The Long Road Home
by TheDoctorAndSarah
Summary: ** COMPLETE ** Three months ago, Sarah found herself all alone in Aberdeen. Now, as she tries to make a new life for herself, a stranger with no memory shows up injured and bleeding on her front porch. New series.  SJ, Harry, Brig - later, 4, 10, Jack
1. Chapter 1

**URGENT NOTE:** As you may know, the BBC starts shooting the 50th anniversary special this week. If you'd like to see a proper tribute to Sarah Jane in the special, please consider signing the petition at www dot ipetitions dot com / petition/sarah-jane-smith-dr-who-tribute (automatic link removed because we don't want to break any rules) and passing it on to any groups you belong to. If we all pass it on, we can make a difference! Time (ironically) is of the essence! Thanks!

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Well, we're finally back. Sorry it took so long, but this story was a bit of an undertaking!

It's actually the first in a series of interconnected stories. We promise that each will have a well-defined beginning and end, but they'll all fit into an arc that starts when a man shows up on Sarah Jane Smith's doorstep with no memory and ends when … well, you'll just have to find out.

As far as canon, all of these stories mesh with what we've actually seen onscreen in Doctor Who itself, but **not necessarily Sarah Jane Adventures**.

(OK, everything onscreen in Doctor Who except the Brigadier's history in "Mawdryn Undead", and that's because THOSE writers were fudging dates and hoping nobody would notice.)

Also, if you've come here because we've listed "Tenth Doctor" in the second character pulldown, we should tell you now that he doesn't appear until much later in the series … or does he?

Finally, we've put a lot of work into making sure all the pieces fit together - and believe me, that's quite a job! - so we'd really appreciate your feedback.

Thanks!

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><p><strong>January, 1977<strong>

Two hours ago, Sarah Jane Smith had stepped down the street, quietly whistling "Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me A Bow Wow", looking for somewhere to go while waiting for the Doctor. Just a few moments before, the TARDIS had dematerialized. A moment later, looking around, she'd realized that once again the Doctor had blown it; this wasn't even South Croydon, let alone Hillview Road.

Part of her hadn't been able believe that he was actually gone. Even though he had told her he was leaving her to go back to Gallifrey, she'd never really believed he would go. Even though he'd instructed her about to whom to give his regards, she'd been sure he'd be back very soon, long before she could deliver them. Even though he hadn't said he'd be right back, she'd been sure he would.

Carrying a small suitcase, a potted geranium and a few other personal items, she'd kept expecting him to call her back. She'd walked down the street glancing over her shoulder every few minutes, expecting him to reappear at any moment.

But he hadn't. Instead there had been just an empty void where a few moments before, the only place she had ever felt at home had stood. 'That's it?' she'd asked herself. 'All those years, and now suddenly nothing?' He'd be back, she'd thought. He wouldn't, couldn't do this to her.

After almost two hours of sitting on a curb waiting, she'd walked to the nearest phone and placed a collect call to the Brigadier. Now she sat in a local Scottish pub sipping a soda while she waited for Sargent Benton.

It all seemed so surreal. One minute she was in the center of the universe, the next, dumped in Aberdeen. She sighed, reminding herself that he'd be back soon, and she could tease him about it then.

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><p>Three months later, Sarah Jane Smith was sitting on her back porch with her arms wrapped around her legs, looking up at the sky. The sky was clear and the stars were beginning to fill the night. As they started to appear, one by one, the twinkling beacons seemed to call to her.<p>

In her mind, a deep voice was saying, 'Till we meet again, Sarah.' How she longed to hear that voice again. But he had yet to return for her, and she wondered where he was at that moment.

When they'd said goodbye, she had been so sure it was all a bad dream, or some silly mistake, and he would come right back for her. After all, she was his best friend, and as for him, well, he was life itself to her. They had been together for years; why would he just abandon her?

What if she had done something wrong and didn't realize it? Was it that silly fight? No, they had those all the time; they both knew it was all in fun.

She closed her eyes for a moment and like a child, she wished and prayed at the same time. "Oh, please come back for me. I don't belong here, I belong with you." A little tear trickled down her cheek and she wiped it away. "I don't fit in here. This isn't my home anymore."

When she could no longer keep her eyes open, she stood up, walked into the house and went upstairs to bed to cry herself to sleep. She didn't bother to change her clothes. Instead she just lay across the bed and silently cried.

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><p>The next morning was the same as any other since she had returned. The sun always rose in the east, always orange, always just the one. Nothing chasing her, no alien plots to foil, no galactic catastrophes threatening life as she knew it. It was like being stuck in a time loop, one day just like the last, and just like the next.<p>

But today, she was going to change all that.

It had taken some doing, but she'd convinced the Brigadier to let her write "Fighting for Humankind: a History of UNIT", on the condition that she understood that the book might be censored later. That was fine with her; this way she could write about everything, including the exciting pieces she really wanted to write about, without the Brig thinking she'd lost her touch - or perhaps her sanity.

And today was her first day working on it.

To start off her research, she'd invited Harry over to breakfast. She'd told him it was because he'd been working for UNIT since long before he'd ever even met the Doctor, but really, it was because it was good to talk to someone who understood what it was that she was missing. He was the only person she knew who had traveled with the Doctor, and talking to Harry made her feel closer to him, too. Of course she never let on about how hurt she was, or how much she missed him. That was something she kept to herself.

Finally, she leaned over and shut off her recorder. "Thank you so much Harry, that's enough for one day. It'll be such a great help to me with the book."

"Glad to be of service, my dear Sarah Jane," Harry smiled at her, and munched on a Jammie Dodger. "Thanks for remembering these are my favorites, old girl."

Sarah gave him a stern look. "Harry I'm so happy about all the information you just gave me, I'm not even going to scold you. But please, no old girl or old thing anymore, alright?"

Harry laughed. "Sorry old gi...," he stopped short. "I say, force of habit you know, hard to break. I promise though, I will try to remember." He chewed a bit. "You know, you look tired, Sarah Jane, and much too thin. Should I be concerned about you?"

Sarah smiled and patted his hand. "No, Harry, just still adjusting to living back on earth, eating the food here again, and the changes in time. I expect my body will get used to it sooner or later."

"Well then, I'm afraid I have to brave the rain and get back to work. However, I will be checking back in on you now that you're settling into a normal routine."

"Thanks, Harry. It's always good to have friends around," said Sarah as she stood up. "Come along then, I'll see you to the door like a proper hostess, Doctor Sullivan." She gave him a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek, then opened the door for him.

Sprawled on her front stairs lay a man, his body twisted as though he'd slipped and fallen in the pouring rain, blood gushing from his head and running down the steps towards the street in a scarlet river.

"Oh my heavens," exclaimed Sarah. "Harry, we've got to help him!"

Harry knelt down and listened to his chest. "He's still breathing. Sarah Jane, go get an umbrella and some towels."

Sarah ran back into the house and came back out with the towels and an umbrella as quickly as she could. "How is he, Harry?" She looked at all the blood on her steps and knew it couldn't be good.

Harry had run out to his car to grab his medical bag and was listening to his chest. "Ah, wonderful," he said, eying the umbrella. "It's raining so hard I couldn't even check his pupils." With Sarah holding the umbrella over them, he leaned over and flashed a light in the man's eyes. "Pulse is strong, eyes aren't dilated, so that's good. Do you know this fellow?"

Sarah gave him a long hard look. He looked to be in his late thirties, early forties, fairly attractive, even with his short brown hair plastered down with rain and blood. She shook her head. "No, I've never seen him before."

The man groaned and started reaching out as though trying to grab something.

"Can you hear me old chap?" Harry asked him.

The man groaned again. "My head..."

"Try not to move," Harry said, putting a hand on his shoulder to steady him. "I'm a doctor and I'm here to help you. Now then, can you tell me your name?"

"Doctor ... You're a doctor?" The man looked up at him as though trying to get his eyes to focus.

"Just lie still and try to keep calm," Harry said, trying again to take his vitals. "You've had a bad blow to your head. Do you know your name, or where you are?"

"Course," he mumbled. "I'm ... " He seemed to be concentrating. "Um ... can't seem to ... " He stifled a groan. "Tip ... my tongue." His eyes closed and he seemed to lapse back into unconsciousness.

Harry checked his pupils again and he moaned.

"Looks like he might have fallen on your steps and hit his head. Sarah Jane, go call an ambulance, we'll need to get him to hospital, and I don't want to move him without at least a cervical collar, just in case."

"NO," the man said, almost forcefully. "No hospital..." But then he was out again, and quiet.

"This is going to need more attention than I can give him here," said Harry. "I'll do what I can to stop the bleeding." While Sarah ran to call the ambulance, Harry pulled a bandage out of his medical bag and applied pressure to the gash with one hand, holding the umbrella over the man with the other and trying to piece together what had happened. The gash was on the top of the man's head, so he'd probably arrived with it.

He wondered just what kind of trouble had found Sarah Jane this time.


	2. Chapter 2

Sarah returned shortly. "An ambulance is on the way. Is there anything we can do for him while we're waiting?"

"Take the umbrella again, if you would, so I can get a good look at this." Pulling on a pair of gloves, Harry moved aside a shock of short brown hair to get a good look. "Well, it's a nasty laceration, but I don't think there's a fracture. Don't worry so much about all this," he said, motioning to the crimson stream slowly flowing down to the street. "The scalp tends to bleed a lot. I'm much more concerned about brain injury."

Sarah held the umbrella in one hand and a torch in the other. She studied the young man at her feet. She felt drawn to him somehow, and wondered how and why he had ended up on her doorstep.

As Harry worked on him, Sarah kept staring at his face. He looked so helpless just lying there.

Suddenly her heart stopped. Was he... could it be? Now her heart was pounding so hard she was surprised Harry couldn't hear it. "Harry," she said quickly, "when you listened to his heart, was there anything unusual about it?"

"No, should there be?" he asked distractedly, trying to decide whether to suture now or wait until they were out of the rain.

Sarah knelt down next to the man and put a hand on his shoulder, staring intently at him. "I know this is going to sound crazy, but check and see if there's another heartbeat on his right side."

Harry looked at her for a moment. He knew exactly what she was getting at. There was no point trying to dissuade her, but the very fact that she asked saddened him. He sighed and placed his stethoscope in the spot the Doctor had indicated for his second heart all those years ago, not expecting to hear anything but breath sounds.

And that's all he heard. "Sorry, Sarah, just the one heart."

Sarah was crestfallen, but tried not to let it show. She smiled feebly and shook her head. "Of course not. Silly idea, wasn't it?" She turned her face away so Harry couldn't see her crying, grateful for the rain.

But Harry had seen the pained expression on her face. She looked like a child who had just bounded down the stairs on Christmas morning to find nothing but an empty tree, and had realized for the first time that there was no Father Christmas.

For not the first time, Harry cursed the Doctor for breaking Sarah's heart. For months now, ever since the day she'd sheepishly returned from Scotland without him, Harry had been watching her sleepwalk through her life. It was as though without the Doctor, she had no direction, no purpose, no reason for going on.

If she'd been a weak person, Harry could have accepted it. But she wasn't, and to see such a strong will break... He heard the ambulance siren screaming down the street.

Sarah heard it too. She looked down at the stranger again. He may not have been the Doctor, but he was here on her doorstep, and that made her feel somehow responsible for his welfare. "I want to go to the hospital with him, Harry," she said.

"Sarah..." he warned, then he sighed. "I don't suppose there's any point in trying to talk you out of getting involved in all this, is there?"

"No, Harry," she said resolutely. "Sorry, there's not. He ended up here for a reason, I'm sure of it. Besides," she said, putting a smile on her face. "Who knows, there could be a great story in this once we find out who he is."

Harry shook his head, then started calling off vital signs to the newly arrived paramedics. As they were fitting the cervical collar, he pulled Sarah aside. "Listen, if you want to go to hospital, all right, but it doesn't make any sense for you to ride with him while I drive behind. Just in case something happens, I'll ride in the ambulance, you follow in my car, and we'll meet back up in A&E. Then at least I'll be able to drive you home afterwards."

Sarah put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. "Thank you, Harry."

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><p>Moving. He was moving, he could tell that much from the vibration and swaying. But he felt strangely immobile, strapped down, a stiff collar holding even his head. He heard himself moan ... or at least he assumed it was him. Nothing seemed to make any sense.<p>

"Steady on old chap," said a voice. "We have to keep you from moving, so I'm afraid you're somewhat strapped down at the moment. Just try to stay as still as possible. We'll be at the hospital very soon now."

He heard the words, and tried to stay calm. He thought he should look around, but he couldn't get his eyes to open. He figured he was probably in an ambulance, and something about that bothered him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He felt the ambulance stop, and the jarring drop as the stretcher was pulled off the vehicle and rolled into the hospital. What was he thinking about again? He couldn't remember. Couldn't remember anything, actually, he realized with a start, and he could feel his heart start to pound. Then he felt a soft hand in his, and he felt his eyes open, almost of their own accord. A moment or two later, when they focused, he saw a face leaning over him, where he could see it.

She was beautiful, and looking at her, he suddenly felt as though everything was going to be all right.

"Welcome back," she said, smiling reassuringly at him. "Harry here has told everyone that I'm his assistant, so I'll be able to stay with you through most of the procedures and tests that you'll be having."

He looked behind her and realized that the ceiling wasn't moving anymore; he must be in a room. "Thank you," he said, his voice a little hoarse. "I ... er ... I don't remember your name, I'm sorry."

"You don't remember my name because we weren't introduced. I'm Sarah Jane Smith, and this is my friend, Doctor Harry Sullivan." She motioned towards Harry. "We found you unconscious on my front steps. Do you remember anything yet?"

"Yet?" he asked. He realized that he remembered the man named Sullivan asking him a question, but nothing else. "Er ... no. I don't think so."

"Well, no need to worry about it for now, just concentrate on getting better. I'm sure your memory will come back soon." She patted his arm gently.

A nurse started rolling up his sleeve, but he still couldn't move his head to see what was going on. He cried out as he felt a jab. "What's going on?"

"It's alright, nothing to worry about, the Sister here is just drawing a little blood so it can be tested." Sarah held his hand. "There, it's almost over. You can squeeze my hand if you need to."

He concentrated on the feel of her hand, and in a moment he felt something being taped to his arm. "Do I have to wear this collar?" he asked.

"Just until we've made sure you haven't broken anything," he heard Harry say. Then he heard another person approach.

"All right then," he heard a woman say, "we'll need to get some information while we're waiting for the Doctor. Name?"

"I'm afraid he's suffering from memory loss," Harry said. "You'll have to register him as a John Doe."

"John Doe it is, then," she said.

Sarah saw the fear in his eyes and the wounded look on his face. She had a sudden urge to stroke his head and comfort him. She wanted to tell him that she knew exactly how he felt, lost, out of place, confused and alone. She understood what it felt like to be suddenly dropped into an unfamiliar place and not be able to find your bearings.

"Well, then," he said, "it's a name, I suppose. Better than 'hey you'." And somehow, it did make him feel a little better. A little more ... anchored. Even if it wasn't his name, it was something.

"I'll just call you John, then, if I may," smiled Sarah at him.

He liked that smile. A lot. He smiled back at her.

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><p>For what seemed like an eternity, John was examined, poked, prodded, and questioned about his pain. He had been cleaned up, stitched up and IV'd. He'd begun to think of his little cubicle as "home".<p>

When it came time to X-ray his head, Sarah told John that since they wouldn't let her in anyway, she'd just stay in the cubicle and wait for him. And anyway, Harry had medical privileges; they had to let him in. So when they left, just as she had hoped, she was all alone.

Immediately, she started going through John's soaking clothes, looking for anything that would give her a clue as to his identity. First on the pile was his jacket. Nothing in any of the pockets. Same for the shirt. She looked around and made sure no one was coming, then reached for his pants.

She knew she shouldn't even let the thought that he could have bigger-on-the-inside pockets enter her head. After all, he had just one heart, but still, she had to see for herself before she could let this go. She thought she felt something as she picked up the soaking-wet pants, and prayed, 'Oh please, let that be a sonic screwdriver.'

Slowly, she reached her hand into the frustratingly normal-sized pocket.

She drew out a box.

A small, square, dark blue velvet-covered box, the type that you'd put a ring into.

She opened it and sure enough, it held a beautiful, sparkling, engagement ring.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:**

We have been having a blast watching people try to figure out who John is. So far, we've had people guess that he's 10 (having used the chameleon arch), the metacrisis, Rory Williams, and even Jack Harkness. We do promise that you **will** find out who he is, but just to manage expectations, while we will be dropping clues, it's gong to be a while. After all, there are several stories in this arc... Thanks for all the reviews, we're loving your feedback!

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><p>The ring looked to be about one carat, not gaudy, not too expensive, but tasteful and lovely. It was exactly the sort of thing she'd pick out if she were choosing a ring for herself. 'Well, Mr. Doe, you do seem to have someone you care for deeply, don't you?' she thought.<p>

She slipped the ring back into his pocket and finished her search. There was absolutely nothing special about the trousers. No sonic screwdriver, no transdimensional pockets, not so much as a yo-yo, let alone a Jelly Baby. She sighed and put the trousers back on the pile of clothing.

"Well, what did you expect?" she said out loud, scolding herself. She sat down heavily on the chair next to the bed, feeling her mood begin to drift. "Better shape up, Miss Smith," she warned angrily. "This kind of behavior simply won't do."

She leaned back and closed her eyes, and by the time they wheeled John back into the room, Harry by his side, she had forced herself to calm down. She reminded herself to be more careful in the future and not to let any negative feelings she might have show. She took a deep breath and smiled. "How did it go?"

"As well as could be expected," Harry said, hanging John's chart on the end of his bed. "No obvious fractures, but I'd like to wait for the radiologist to give the scans a good reading before we make any definite treatment decisions."

"So now we wait?" Sarah asked.

"So now we wait," Harry said.

John listened to the exchange. "Any idea how long? This thing is driving me crazy," he said, knocking on the plastic cervical collar.

"Sorry, no," Harry said kindly. "But here's something we can do to pass the time. It occurred to me while we were in radiology that we were so busy taking care of you that we never checked your clothes for identification." He looked around for John's clothes, then handed them to him. "Here you are, do you need some help?"

"I don't think so," John said, excited, holding up the clothing so he could see it. "I can't believe we didn't think of this. Although, I suppose we were occupied elsewhere," he said, touching the thick bandages on his head.

He looked at the ruined suit, damp from the soaking rain, and stained with his blood. A shiver ran through him; what had happened? He checked the back pockets of the trousers for a wallet and found nothing. Disappointed, he absently reached into one front pocket, then the other, and jumped as his fingers hit something.

He pulled out the small box and stared at it for a moment, then quickly opened it. He breathed in sharply, then stared at the ring inside, as though hypnotized.

"My word," Harry said. "Looks like you were definitely on your way somewhere important, old chap."

"Yes," said Sarah with a twisted smile. "Looks like John has someone special in his life."

"So ..." John started, "she'll be looking for me, then." He looked up hopefully at them. "If she called the police, will they know to look for me here? Or the hospital? Will they know to tell her about me, even though they don't have my name?" he set the ring on his chest and started frantically looking through the other pockets.

"I'm sure that they will," Sarah said, patting his shoulder as he realized there was nothing in the other pockets.

John turned the ring over in his hands, looking for an inscription as he listened to Sarah and Harry make small talk while they waited. After a few minutes, he reluctantly put away the ring and tried to participate rather than be rude, but he was clearly unable to keep up. He wasn't part of their lives, privy to their goings-on, and he didn't have any stories of his own to tell, so he was grateful when, to include him in the conversation, they decided to see just what he could remember.

Sarah and Harry quizzed him on various topics, from his life to history to current events, and finally the three of them decided that he really didn't remember much of anything at all.

Of course, that wasn't entirely true. He remembered how to walk, and talk, and dress himself, so he wasn't an invalid. But it wasn't just his own past that seemed to be gone; He seemed to have facts down, but as for events, he seemed to be a completely clean slate. For example, he knew that England was a constitutional monarchy, but he couldn't remember who currently sat on the throne.

After just over an hour of this, Doctor Alden returned with the test results. "Well," he said, looking over John's chart. "You're a very lucky man indeed, Mr. Doe. I don't see how, but after an fairly serious blow to the head, you've managed to come away with only a minor concussion. As for your memory loss, I'm reasonably certain it's only temporary. If you haven't remembered who your primary care doctor is in three days, I'll want to see you back here for a follow-up so we can close out our records. I'll be sending some instructions and precautions for you to follow when you leave." He reached over and took the cervical collar off of him. "And you'll be happy to hear that you won't be needing this anymore."

John took a deep breath and let it out, then moved his head. It hurt a bit, but at least he felt a little more in control. Finally, he was able to look directly at Sarah and Harry and see where he was, rather than just staring at the ceiling.

Harry looked exactly as he'd expected, except for the Navy uniform, which seemed somehow proper after just a moment of consideration.

But it was Sarah that he really took a good look at. He'd already decided that he liked her smile; now he decided he liked the rest as well. He pictured her as a compassionate, kind-hearted soul, and something about the way she looked seemed to confirm that; he wasn't sure what. To him, she looked like an angel, and for a moment he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

He felt the nurse raising the head of his bed so he could sit up a little. "Thank you," he said. "Much better, though I can't say moving much is on my agenda right now."

"You'll most likely be sore for a few days old chap, but after that you'll be right as rain," smiled Harry.

"Let's hope so," John said. "Doctor, or... Doctors, I guess I should say, you think I will get my memory back, right?"

"I'd say the chances of it are very good," Doctor Alden said.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another person in the room and realized with a start that it was a mirror, and that he was in fact the man staring back at him. For a moment he just stared, trying to reconcile himself to his appearance. He put his hand up to his face, feeling his clean-shaven cheeks, the sharpness of his nose, the position of his eyebrows. The turban-esque bandage covered his ears and most of the rest of his head, so he still didn't exactly know what he looked like, but it was something.

Just then one of the Sisters came in. "Excuse me, but Matron rang up the station a while ago, and the police are here now. They want to speak with Mr. Doe."

"Police?" he asked nervously. "I haven't ... done anything. Or at least, I don't think so."

"It's alright, John," said Sarah softly. "They're only here because you may have been the victim of an attack. I assure you, it's nothing to be concerned about." But still, he thought he caught a look of concern between her and Harry.

He nodded and looked out the door at the approaching constables. He forced himself to calm down; why should he assume they were there to arrest him? Was he a criminal or something?

Two men in uniforms walked into the room. "Good afternoon, Sir. I'm PC Davis, and this is my partner PC Clifford. We'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind."

John forced a smile. "No, no, I don't mind, but I don't know how much information I'll be able to give you."

"Very well, has anyone checked for his ID?" He looked around towards Harry and Sarah Jane.

"Yes," Harry said. "There was nothing in any of his pockets but a rather nice looking engagement ring."

John opened the box to show them.

"Hmm," said PC Davis as he eyed the ring. "Rather odd that you have no identification or anything else on you, yet this looks to be a rather valuable piece of jewelry. If you had been robbed, I should think the thief or thieves wouldn't have overlooked it."

"I suppose," John started.

"Maybe he was injured trying to protect the ring and he managed to get away from whoever harmed him before it was stolen as well," Sarah Jane jumped in.

"It's certainly possible," Clifford said. "Or perhaps he was injured by someone trying to stop him from taking the ring."

John looked stricken. "You mean … you think I …"

"We're not saying anything yet," Davis said. "We haven't had any reports as of yet of a robbery in this area, other than your possible assault."

"Maybe he doesn't have a wallet or anything else on him because he was trying to use them as a distraction so no one would take the ring," Sarah chimed in defensively.

"And anyway," Harry said, stepping between John and the officers, "there's no indication that it even was an assault. This is an impact wound; he could have been knocked down by a car or simply slipped in the rain and hit his head on the curb. It certainly isn't a defensive wound, unless the person defending themselves was carrying something very heavy and very sharp."

"Right, you don't have enough evidence to make any kind of judgement at this time. So, since the ring was found in John's pocket, that makes it legally his property until and unless you can prove otherwise," said Sarah.

"Clearly, Mister Doe,"Davis said, "you have found yourself some devoted friends." He put a hand up to stop Clifford from saying anything. "But the fact is that they're right. Unless and until we have some reason to believe that you've committed a crime, and at the moment we don't, the ring isn't evidence, and we have no right to take possession of it."

"Everbody's a lawyer," Clifford muttered.

"At the moment," Davis continued, "it's just missing person case. Or rather a found person," he smiled.

"Officer," John said, closing the box and holding onto it tightly, "if someone is looking for me, will you be able to know it's me even if you don't have my name?"

"Of course Sir, not to worry. We check out all missing person reports very thoroughly," said PC Davis, scribbling into his notebook.

"Yes, we leave no stone unturned in these matters," agreed PC Clifford.

"But we still have the matter of your possible assault to deal with," Davis said. "Do you remember anything at all about what happened to you?"

John shook his head gently. "The first thing I remember is waking up in the rain with Doctor Sullivan here talking to me. Nothing before that. The Doctors say they think it'll all come back before long, but I'm afraid for now I'm not very much help."

"The tests revealed that there's been no serious brain injury," Harry confirmed.

"Right then," PC Davis flipped the cover back on his notebook as he finished writing. "We'll type up what we have and hopefully, in a few days, your memory will return, Mr. Doe. As soon as you're ready to leave, we drive you to the station to finish our report and we'll check and see if we have anything on you there."


	4. Chapter 4

"There's no need for you to take him in, Officer, Harry and I will gladly drive him to the station for you," said Sarah, flashing him her most charming smile. She wasn't about to lose sight of John until she knew more about him. Besides, she still felt responsible for him. "I promise we'll bring him around just as soon as we're done here. You have my word on it."

"I'm sorry, Miss ... er ... I'm sorry, what was your name?" started Davis.

"Smith, Sarah Jane Smith. I'm an investigative journalist," she said as she pulled her press ID out of her wallet and handed it to him. "I found this man on my doorstep, and I'd like to see things through with him, so to speak. If that's all right with you, Officer Davis."

"I thought you looked familiar," Davis said as Clifford rolled his eyes. "I read your piece on illegal dumping in the Thames, very thorough," he smiled.

"Thank you, you're very kind," Sarah beamed at him. "I'd like to know why you want to take John to the police station. I have to tell you that since I feel responsible for him, I don't intend to let him out of my sight. Therefore, I feel quite justified in asking if you planning on charging him with anything. If you are, I plan to call my solicitor in to represent him. He'll be waiting for us at the station by the time we get there." Sarah was still smiling but she knew she made her feelings clear.

John watched, waiting for an answer.

"It's all right," Davis said. "We have no plans to charge him with anything at this time. But if anybody reported him missing, the reports will be down at the station."

"Since you're not charging him with anything, then we'll drop him off at the station as soon as he's done here. I'm sure you don't mind if Dr. Sullivan and I drive him in instead of you."

He smiled back at her. "No, I'm afraid I can't do that. But if you'd like to ride down to the station with us and have Doctor Sullivan follow behind, that's fine."

"That sounds wonderful. I've never been for a ride in a police car," she winked at John. "Would you two gentlemen mind if I just popped out for a moment to get my friend here some new clothes? As you can see, what he had on when he came here isn't fit to wear any more. There's a Tesco just two buildings down from here, I'll be back before they're done with the discharge papers."

John had been watching the entire exchange, and wasn't sure whether to be concerned that the whole thing went by without anybody asking him what he wanted, or relieved that Sarah handled it all without him having to worry about it. He decided on the latter; he felt pretty disconnected, and the idea of being taken to a police station all by himself was a bit nerve-wracking.

Sarah Jane turned to John and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright with all of this, and what kind of clothes do you want me to get for you?"

"Um ... I don't know," he said sheepishly. "I suppose anything comfortable will do, but really, you don't have to do that."

Sarah pointed out the blood and dirt that covered his clothes, and John agreed that he really needed something. After accepting John's promise to pay her back when he remembered who he was, Sarah looked through his clothes and wrote down the sizes, then checked his shoes. "Harry, will you see if you can get some paper towels or something to dry these with? Oh, and stuff the insides of them with paper towels too, that will help wick up some of the moisture."

Harry just rolled his eyes and shook his head, then stood up and pointed to the paper towel dispenser in the cubicle. "Handled," he said, grabbing a handful and beginning to stuff John's shoes.

"I can do that," John said, holding out his hand. "Really."

"Nonsense," said Sarah. "You just lay there and let yourself be pampered," she ordered him. "Plenty of time to get around when you're feeling better. Harry, keep him company and see to it that he relaxes till I get back, and that's an order," she said as she walked out the door.

John watched her go, staring after her for a few moments, even after the constables excused themselves to get some coffee. "Interesting woman," he finally said. "Seems to really know what she wants."

"Oh, you can be sure of that," laughed Harry. "Best to follow her orders too, she can be very feisty if she wants to."

"That wasn't feisty?"

"Not for her it wasn't. Don't get me wrong, she's a wonderful girl with a very kindhearted nature, but she's no one to be trifled with. Trust me, you don't want to face the wrath of Sarah Jane Smith."

John shuddered a little. "She looks so sweet," he said. "You two look very happy together."

"Us?" said Harry with surprise. "I only wish she'd have me. I've proposed to her dozens of times, but it's not me she loves," he said sadly.

"Oh, I ... I'm so sorry, I just assumed ..."

"It's alright old boy," he said, smiling again. "I'm over it and we're the best of friends."

* * *

><p>Once Sarah Jane was outside, she took a deep breath. It felt good to be outside in the fresh air. The rain felt cool on her face and she took another breath and relaxed. She forgave herself for being foolish enough to think that John was the Doctor and headed towards the store.<p>

It didn't take long for her to find a powder blue dress shirt she liked. She ran her hands over the material, then laughed and shook her head. She couldn't help thinking of a shirt almost the same color as this one that the Doctor was quite fond of when he was his third self - only that shirt had ruffles with dark blue trim on it.

Oh, what she wouldn't give to be shopping for the Doctor, or even better still, shopping with him. She sighed and stiffened up a bit, then picked up a navy blue tie - a bit wider than the one he had been wearing, but the best she could do - and went to look at slacks.

* * *

><p>As she headed back into his cubicle, she could hear John and Harry laughing. "What's so funny," she asked as she placed the clothing on the bed for John to inspect.<p>

John stopped in his tracks, unsure of what to say, and looked over at Harry.

Harry smiled. "I was just telling John about how you are definitely your own woman, and you don't let anybody stop you from getting what you want."

John nodded in agreement.

"Oh, I see, and that's what you were laughing at, heh?" She lowered her head and gazed up at both of them with mock severity.

"No, it was not," Harry interjected. "We were laughing at how you put the Minister for the Interior in his place when he tried to tell you what he thought a woman's place was."

"Oh, yes, I remember that. He changed his mind quite a bit after our little chat as I recall," she smiled with satisfaction.

"He uhm, changed a few things alright," Harry laughed.

John couldn't suppress a smile. "Thank you for the clothes, this is too much, really."

"Do you like them?" she asked. "I tried to get something that looked close to what you were wearing."

"They're wonderful, thank you," John said. "And just in time, too, the constables were here a few minutes ago, and the Doctor says I'm ready to get out of here."

"Great, then I'll leave you to get dressed. Harry will stay and help you if you need it, won't you Harry? See you both soon," she smiled at them as she stepped outside.

A few minutes later, Harry pushed the curtain aside and emerged pushing a wheelchair. John felt a little silly with his head bandaged, but otherwise he looked none the worse for wear. "All right then," he said. "Off to the station, I suppose."

The constables, who'd been enjoying a cup of tea, reappeared as if by magic. "Ready to go, then, Mr. Doe?"

"I suppose so." He looked over at Sarah to see if she was still coming with him.

Sarah came over and walked beside him as Harry maneuvered the wheelchair out the door. "Let's hope we find out who you are in a short while," she smiled over at him.

* * *

><p>Aside from a few minutes of anxiety when John was photographed and fingerprinted like a common criminal, the trip to the constabulary was fairly uneventful. Nobody had as yet turned in a report that they were looking for him - after all, it was still less than 24 hours that he'd been "missing" - and it would take some time to get a report on whether his fingerprints were on file. John was quiet, mostly observing what went on around him, grateful for the fact that Sarah stayed with him. From what he'd seen so far, and the stories Harry had told him, he was fairly confident that she wouldn't let anyone take advantage of him in his somewhat weakened state.<p>

Finally, they were finished.

"All right then," Inspector Davis said. "As of right now, we don't have any reports of someone looking for you, and we don't have any reason to hold you, so we've made arrangements with the Saint George Men's Hostel."

"You mean a homeless shelter," Sarah said with surprise.

"Yes," Davis continued. "They've got an emergency bed available, and they'll take responsibility for getting you fixed up."

John realized that it hadn't occurred to him to wonder where he was going to go. It made sense, he supposed, because he felt like a single point in time. With no past that he could remember, it didn't occur to him to think about the future; only the present existed. "Thank you," he said quietly.

"Miss Smith, I suppose you'll want to come along there was well?" Davis asked.

"You suppose correctly, Inspector." She turned to John. "I'll stay with you till you're all settled in, I promise."

"Thanks," he said, and squeezed her hand gratefully.


	5. Chapter 5

We debated whether to post today under the circumstances, but really, when you come right down to it, the best way to keep her alive in our hearts is to keep going. So we will be maintaining the Wednesday and Saturday posting schedule, including today.

We love you, Lis.

* * *

><p>Saint George Men's Hostel was on the outskirts of London, so the ride took almost half an hour, but it passed fairly quietly. Sarah seemed to be lost in thought, and John wasn't sure what to say to anybody. So as the inspectors nattered on to each other about the past weekend's match, John tried to get himself to remember something, anything.<p>

He pulled the ring out of his pocket and stared at it for a few moments. There was no inscription, but he couldn't help but feel it was important to deciphering his identity. No matter how hard he thought about it, though, it was just a piece of gold and stone; it imparted no wisdom, and his life still seemed to begin in the soaking rain of Sarah Jane's porch.

Finally, his head splitting, he leaned back and closed his eyes.

Sarah turned to John and saw him trying to sleep. She sat and studied him. He had amazing eyes, and she really liked the way they crinkled when he smiled. Something about those soft dark brown eyes tugged at her every time he looked at her. Even though she was certain that she had never seen him before, she felt as if they were kindred spirits somehow, and it unnerved her a bit. Here he was a total stranger to her, and yet, he could evoke such strong emotions in her. She felt close to him somehow, and she was sure that there was an almost unfathomable depth to him, in spite of his memory loss and understandable confusion. She would almost be sorry when he got his memory back, because she was sure when he did, he would lose the child-like innocence and unquestioning trust he displayed now.

John startled a little as the car stopped and he heard doors opening. He stepped out onto the street. Unlike Sarah's house - where was that? He realized he didn't even know - London was cold and gritty, and now, hours after he'd woken up on her doorstep, the sun was beginning to fade, giving everything a sickly gray pallor.

The hostel itself, however, was anything but gray. Built in Victorian times, it was huge, imposing, and bright green. At least three stories high, steep roofs sloped off at all angles and gingerbread trim lined gables and wings pointed in every direction.

John's head hurt just looking at it.

PC Davis took him gently by the arm. "This way, Mr. Doe, they're expecting you."

John looked back at Sarah hopefully.

Sarah Jane smiled at him, took his other arm, and gave it a squeeze. "It'll be alright, you'll see," she said warmly.

Together the four of them walked in to the main parlor, and a sister met them at the door. "Welcome to Saint George," she said, and took John's hand, leading him down the hall to her office.

The moment they'd stepped through the door, John was assaulted with the smell of humanity packed into a small space. Sweat, alcohol, anger, fear, they permeated the air in stark contrast to the genteel look of the parlor; now that they headed down the hall, he could see into huge rooms lined with triple bunk beds, people and possessions strewn everywhere. An old man lumbered past them, mumbling 'hello' to the sister as he went by. He didn't smell of drink, or even sweat, but he had an air of hopelessness clinging to him that made John stare despite his best instincts.

Sarah wasn't aware of it, but her grip on John's arm tightened a bit as she surveyed the shelter. She took it all in and decided that she was going to do a story, or even a series of them, to make people more aware of what these people had to live with every day. They were clean and dressed well enough, but the lost expressions on their faces told the real story. She was sure they were being well treated, but now she was looking at things through John's eyes and it was a very frightening feeling. She said nothing but went along with John as they walked into the office.

"Now then," Sister said as John and Sarah sat down, the policemen flanking the door as though they were bodyguards. "As I understand, you were assaulted and you have no memory?"

"That's right, Sister," John said quietly. His mind was running through what it was going to be like staying here. He'd thought the hospital was busy; a room with that many people... His head pounded.

"Well, you needn't worry, we'll take excellent care of you." She looked at the paperwork PC Clifford had handed her. "Everything seems to be in order here, and we have a bed available for you. We've moved a few people around so you can have a bottom bunk; can't have you climbing with that head injury, now can we? And according to this we need to wake you every two hours for the first night to make sure you're all right." She made a note. "We've put you near matron's room just in case you need anything, and to ensure there aren't any problems," she said, almost to herself, as she made more notes. "All right then. Have you any valuables you might like to store here in the office? I'm afraid we do have some issues with theft."

More than theft, John thought to himself. There was a reason for the smell of fear in here, he was sure of it. His hand closed on the small velvet box in his pocket. It was literally all he had in the world, and he didn't want to part with it. But he couldn't bear the thought of something happening to it. "Sarah," he said quickly, shoving the box at her, "would you keep this for me?"

Sarah looked down at the box and then up at John's face. Her heart broke for him. He was alone, just as she was, but even more so. At least she had a home to go back to, and friends. Here she was feeling sorry for herself and out of place; how could she say that now, looking at John and what he was trying to deal with? "Certainly, I'll guard it with my life," she smiled reassuringly at him. "I'm sure you'll be out of here and wanting it back in no time."

"Yes, Mr. Doe," Sister said kindly. "You needn't worry. You'll only be here for two or three days. After that, either your memory will return, and you'll be free to go, or it won't, and we'll pursue other options."

Sarah's head snapped back and her eyes grew narrow as she turned to face the sister. She didn't like the sound of that at all. "What other options," she asked suspiciously.

"Well, we try to be enlightened here, Miss ..."

"Sarah Jane Smith," Officer Davis said.

"Miss Smith," Sister continued. "We recognize that rough sleeping is often caused by physical issues outside a person's control. So we are in a pilot program with the National Health Service to provide people with cognitive issues options other than the streets or a shelter."

"I'd like to hear more about that if I may." Her lips were pursed a bit, as she eyed everyone in the room but John. She was beginning to get the picture the sister was trying to form, and she was pretty sure she didn't at all like the implications.

"Well, we'll make sure that Mr. Doe is registered with a physician, and if his memory loss is found to be permanent, then there are other facilities where he can live."

John listened carefully. He was in favor of any situation that didn't have him living at Saint George.

"So let me see if I truly understand. What you're trying very hard not to say," said Sarah sharply. "Is that, if he doesn't get his memory back in a few days, you're going to process and section him. Is that right," Sarah Jane's tone was very defensive now.

John, didn't know quite what she was getting at, but the way Sarah said it, it didn't sound good. "What does that mean?"

"I tell you what it means John," said Sarah, now in full defense mode. "It means that they only intend to keep you here for a few days. After that, if your memory doesn't come back, they are going to send you to a psychiatric ward, a place where lunatics are kept."

She turned to glare at the sister. "Look at him, does he look as if he'll fit right in there? Have you given any thought to what that place will be like for him? It's not as if he's homicidal or something."

"Now Miss Smith, please calm down," said the sister. "You're overreacting. He'll be perfectly fine wherever he ends up. We have a system in place to ensure that."

"Oh, I'll just bet you do," Sarah spat, eyes glaring. "And how many people get lost each year in your precious system, can you tell me that?"

John was glad Harry had warned him about the wrath of Sarah Jane Smith. He was also very glad right now that she was on his side.

"I will be happy to let you pour over our records and gather whatever statistics you will, but I think you're losing sight of the more important issue here. We have a person here who has nowhere else to go, no one to be responsible for him."

"No you don't," Sarah said defiantly. "I'll be responsible for him."

"Miss Smith," Sister started, "I'm afraid it's not that simple." She was still smiling, but there was a slight clip in her voice that showed she was losing patience. "Because of his medical condition, Mr. Doe is now a ward of the state. Saint George is legally responsible for him now, and we simply can't release him to you just on your say-so. However, if you're very serious and very sure about this, and you'd like to come back in the morning, after you've taken the time this through, I'll be happy to help you initiate procedures to apply to be designated as Mr. Doe's legal guardian. But for tonight, he's got a bed in ward three, and I'm afraid that's where he's going to stay."

It was as though she had just assigned him to his own prison cell. John felt his hand begin to shake.


	6. Chapter 6

Sarah was shaking too, but all over, and with anger. "**NO!** He's not going to spend one minute here if I can help it. May I use your phone please?"

"Miss Smith," Officer Davis started, "I'm not sure we can let you do this. You don't know this man, and I'm not comfortable leaving you alone with him like this."

"I am perfectly capable of handling myself in any situation, thank you. Now, I'd like to use the phone please. If that's an inconvenience, I'll simply go outside and use the one there. But I warn you, I'm not letting John out of my sight, so you two constables will have to come with us."

Sister sighed and turned her phone so that Sarah could use it.

John watched as she dialed. He could see where Davis was coming from, but he knew he wouldn't hurt a fly, and it felt good to have someone really fighting for him.

Sarah dialed and waited. She had to admit, it just felt so right to be fighting for a good cause again. She realized in the few seconds while the phone was ringing that she didn't just miss the Doctor, she missed the adventure too. It was always so much fun to be fighting by his side. She was never afraid as long as she knew he was with her. Together, nothing could beat them.

"UNIT HQ, how may I direct your call?"

Sarah snapped out of daydreaming and used her most serious voice. She spoke load and clear to let everyone in the room know that she wasn't going to brook anyone trying to go over her head. "Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart please. Yes, you can tell him it's Sarah Jane Smith." She flashed a 'so there' look at the three so-called 'authorities' in the room. She'd show them, and oh, just wait and see what she was going to write about this. Them and their sectioning... "Hello Brigadier. Yes, I'm fine, but I really need your help with a problem I'm having at the moment."

The Brigadier sighed. "Typical. What sort of trouble have you gotten yourself into this time?"

"No trouble at all, Brigadier," she said sweetly. "I need you to arrange for me to be given legal guardianship of someone as quickly as possible. Do you think you and UNIT are up to the challenge?"

"Well, of course we can, Miss Smith, you know that. But that's a bit of an odd request. Have you found an errant child?"

"No, Harry and I found a man with a head injury on my front steps and he's lost his memory. I want to take care of him until he's recovered, but the so-called 'authorities' at St. George's and the two constables that are here with me now are saying I can't take him home with me without the proper paperwork. So what I want to know is, how long do you think it will take you to fix this mess for me, Brigadier?"

"You say Doctor Sullivan is aware of this, is he?"

"Yes, he can fill you in on what happened if you like. I'm going to give him a call as soon as you arrange everything here for me."

"Then you'll be having Doctor Sullivan accompany you home and he'll be staying with you as well," the Brigadier said matter-of-factly.

Sarah knew better than to argue with the Brig, especially when he was giving her what she wanted. "Of course he will, but I warn you, I haven't asked him yet, so he doesn't know about it. I promise though, as soon as it's settled on this end, I'll give him a ring." She smiled and winked at John.

"I'll hold you to that, Miss Smith." He got the particulars from her. "All right, I'll make a few calls and messenger the paperwork over to you."

"Thank you so much, Brigadier. I knew I could count on you." Sarah hung up and smiled with satisfaction. She took John's hand and held it as she sat back and waited calmly for the courier to arrive.

John smiled in spite of himself. She was a force to be reckoned with, all right.

In less than an hour a UNIT soldier showed up and delivered the papers personally into the Sister's hand.

"Thank you so much Mister Benton," Sarah grinned at him when he was done.

Warrant Officer Benton smiled at her. "My pleasure, Miss Smith, as always. Is this Mister Doe?" He held a hand out to John, who shook it. "Very nice to meet you."

"And you," John said.

"And the Brigadier wanted me to make sure you called Doctor Sullivan," he continued.

Sarah could barely keep herself from laughing. "Oh, I'll call him right away Mr. Benton. I have to, he's our ride home. Better yet, why don't you give us a ride back to my place? You have to pass by there anyway and if it's alright with you, I can use your RT to call him."

"I'm sure the Brigadier wouldn't mind that," Benton said, smiling. "Of course."

The sister opened up the packet on her desk and examined the paperwork. Then she handed it to Officer Davis and looked over at the two men as if to say, 'are you both going to allow this?'

Officer Davis looked over the paperwork, smiled quietly, then showed it to Clifford, pointing to a particular item. Clifford looked less then pleased, but Davis smiled. "Everything seems to be in order, Sister, so we'll all be on our way. Thanks so much for making your services available, but thankfully we won't be needing them today." He helped John to his feet. "Miss Smith, we'll escort you and Mister Doe back to the car and wait while you contact Doctor Sullivan."

"Isn't this lovely, John? We have Mr. Benton to take us home, and these two very kind constables to escort us to the jeep." There was a somewhat satisfied gleam in Sarah's eyes.

John wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he decided to just go with it. "Yes, very nice, thank you," he said. "Thank you, Sister."

Sister shook his hand, but while she was smiling, he could see the scowl in her eyes. "Good luck, Mister Doe. If we can be of service to you at any time, please let us know."

"No offense, Sister," John said, still shaking her hand, "but I hope I never see you again."

She smiled sadly, as though she expected him back within the week. "So do I."

Sarah reached her hand out and tried not to be too smug. "Yes, thank you Sister and good bye. I can promise you that you won't be seeing John again."

"We're always here, Miss Smith," Sister said, and showed them out.

Sarah turned to her as they headed towards the door. "Oh, and don't worry, I won't ever forget you're here." Having had the last word she put her hand on John's arm and allowed the two constables to see them to Mr. Benton's jeep.

"All right, then," Davis said, sitting on the hood of the Jeep. "I believe you had a call to make," he told Sarah.

Having gotten her own way, Sarah was in a good mood. She decided that Officer Davis was a decent sort of man and that she liked him. She smiled at him as she got into the jeep. "I certainly do," she said turning to Mr. Benton. "May I have your RT please?"

Benton handed it to her and she called Harry. She wasn't the least surprised when he said yes and he even offered to bring over an extra pair of pajamas for John to wear.

"There it is," said Sarah as she handed the RT back to Benton. "Thank you gentlemen for all your kind attentions."

"You're very welcome, Miss Smith," Davis said, handing her a card. "If there's anything else we can do for you, or if John here remembers anything, please let us know. We had two investigators out looking around your house, but with all this rain... At any rate, if anyone is looking for you, John, we'll be sure to call right away."

"Thank you, sir," John said.

* * *

><p>The rain had finally stopped, and Harry was standing on the stoop waiting for them by the time they got back. The Brigadier had grilled him thoroughly on the situation before initiating any paperwork, and he was tired. But somehow he felt better when Sarah Jane waved to him and smiled, and he realized that he hadn't seen her smile like that since before she had come back from traveling with the Doctor.<p>

But as glad as he was to see her smile, he found himself wondering why. He had some thoughts about the reasons, and he wasn't sure he approved of any of them.

He decided to let it go for now. After all, he was planning on spending the next few days at her house for the express purpose of making sure nothing untoward was going to happen, so for now, at least, there was nothing to worry about. He waved as Sarah said goodbye to Benton and led John over to the door. "And how's the patient feeling?" he asked.

"A little silly, but very grateful. You should have seen her, Harry," John beamed. "She was wonderful."

Harry put his arm on John's shoulder as if he were an old school chum. He looked over and smiled at Sarah Jane. "I'm sure she was. I did warn you about it old chap, but now that you've seen it for yourself, you know what she's like in action. I know I'd never want her upset with me, that's for certain."

"Nor me," John said. "Definitely not." He looked at Harry incredulously. "Did you know they were going to section me?"

Now that was alarming, Harry thought. "Why were they going to do that?" he asked Sarah as she came over to them, all levity gone.

"They were going to do it just because he can't remember anything." She set her jaw in anger. "They're heartless and cruel, the whole lot of them. I'm telling you Harry, I'm going to start investigating them for a series of articles I'm planning on writing about their entire system. You should have seen what that place was like."

John was quiet as she related the horrors of the hostel to Harry as she put her key in the door and led him into the house. Her description was particularly vivid, and he found himself getting nervous just thinking about it. He stepped inside and let her lead him to the couch, still talking.

Sarah plumped up the cushions for John and let him settle in. "Would you like another blanket or more pillows, John?"

The couch was soft and comfortable, and as he lay back on it, his shoes hanging over the edge, it seemed to almost swallow him whole, the cool cloth of the couch like a salve on his nerves. "Honestly, I'm really tired," he yawned. "I think I'd just like to get some sleep, if that's all right."

"That's fine John. Harry, I trust you can follow the instructions we got from the hospital," she laughed as she handed him the discharge papers. "I'm going to go out for a while and do some grocery shopping. Any requests for food?"

John heard her, but as if from a long way away. Something about food. He realized he hadn't eaten at all, and a little part of his brain was trying to tell him he was starving, but he could barely keep his eyes open. He motioned for Sarah to come closer so he could hear her, but when she did, he'd forgotten what he wanted. He put a hand out, missing her shoulder completely, then mumbled "Thank you for everything," and fell asleep.

"Well," Harry said, "so much for pajamas." He navigated weak resistance to check John's pupils. "Just asleep. It's normal."

"Good, please keep an eye on him and make yourself at home, I'll be back shortly. Oh, and Harry?"

Harry looked hard at her. She seemed confident, really confident, for the first time in a long time. "Yes, Sarah?"

"Thank you for being such a good friend, it means more than I can say." She grabbed her jacket and slipped it over one arm, leaned over and kissed Harry on the cheek. "I just want you to know that you're appreciated." She finished putting her coat on and grabbed her car keys off the mantle. "I know what kind of food you like, Doctor Sullivan and, I promise to stock up on your favorite biscuits as well," she smiled warmly at him.

Harry smiled back at her and watched her go, then wandered into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Idly munching a Jammie Dodger, he stared at John's gently snoring form draped over the couch. "Who are you, John Doe, and why exactly did you wash up on Sarah Jane's doorstep?"


	7. Chapter 7

Sarah was humming happily to herself while her mind was speeding in forty different directions. It didn't take long for her to decide exactly who to contact for what she had in mind. She drove back towards the city and waited for a few minutes in a parking lot that would have made most policemen nervous, until she spotted the person she was looking for. She honked her horn at him, waved and smiled when he noticed her. She rolled down the car windows as the man with the loose jacket with a tear in it leaned over to talk to her.

"Hello Tommy, I'm sure you can guess why I'm here."

"What do you want to know, and what's it worth to you?" he smiled.

"What it's worth depends on how good your information is. I'm working on a new story. What do you know about the St. George Men's Hostel?"

"I know you can't pay me enough to go there," Tommy said, all trace of a smile gone.

Sarah Jane stopped smiling too. "I need whatever you have on them. Mind if I record this?" She open her glove box and slipped out a small tape recorder.

He shook his head. "Mostly an all right place, except if you get sick and go to the doctor. Then you've got a fifty-fifty shot of coming back. 'Specially if you're … you know .. a bit light in the head."

Sarah pounced on that last statement. "Just what happens if you're slightly daft?"

"Nobody knows. 'Patient privacy,' they say."

"Ever see anybody on the outside that was taken away from the hostel?"

He shook his head. "When they're gone, they're gone."

"Could you perhaps get me some of the names of these people that are missing?"

Tommy thought about it for a moment. "I could try. But that'll cost you."

"I'm willing to pay for it," she said coolly. "Is there any chance that maybe someone lost a good friend this way and tried to find out what happened to them?"

He thought again. "Maybe. I'll poke around."

She asked him a few other questions about things like the way they treated the men living there, how safe it really was and what was the food like. It was pretty much what she had expected, nothing out of the ordinary. "Thanks," she said, turning the recorder off as she finished up with him. She handed him some cash and they shook hands. "I'll come and visit you again in a few days."

He nodded, and walked away. Sarah drove back to South Croydon lost in thought, planning the story outline in her head, deciding whether to make it a series of stories or a big splashy front page expose.

* * *

><p>"Harry," Sarah called out as quietly as she could, trying not to wake up John if he were still asleep. She walked up to her back door with a bag of groceries in each hand. "Come and help me unload the car, can you?"<p>

Harry helped her with the groceries. "This is an awful lot of food, Sarah, planning to hunker down for a while?"

"Just making sure I have something for everyone," she smiled. "Auntie always said it's better to have too much than not enough, providing you don't waste anything. I don't think she ever got over food rationing."

Harry chuckled. "So you're going to mother him to death, then, are you?"

Sarah got a twinkle in her eye. "Nothing wrong with a little mothering when a person is ill." She set her bag down and playfully poked him. "I seem to recall, Doctor Sullivan, that you have a rather large appetite. When we were traveling with the Doctor, you'd eat anything that didn't try to take a bite out of you first." She laughed, remembering a particular incident from their travels. "Hey, what about the time you got bitten by that huge clam sort of thingy and after you caught it, you said, 'no use letting it go to waste,' then you boiled it and ate the whole thing by yourself because we wouldn't touch the smelly thing."

"It was delicious," Harry said, laughing as he put a package of hamburger into the icebox. "Tasted like chicken."

Sarah shook her head, still laughing. "Oh Harry, that's what you said about everything you caught and ate."

"Well, that seems to be a universal constant. At it's basest level, everything in the universe tastes like chicken."

"Oh, of course," said Sarah nodding. "Especially if you cover everything in the universe in Tabasco sauce just before you devour it."

"Never underestimate the value of a good hot sauce," Harry said, grabbing another cookie. "At least I didn't have to eat those cardboard nutrition bars the TARDIS produced."

Sarah just smiled as she pulled a huge jar of Tabasco sauce out of a grocery bag and handed it to him. "Care for some sauce with your cookie Harry?"

"Jammie Dodgers are the exception," he said, and popped a second one into his mouth.

"Good, because I don't think I could bare to watch you eat them that way," Sarah shivered at the thought.

"So," he said when he'd swallowed enough to talk, "what are your plans for the mystery man?"

"To take care of him until he gets his memory back." Sarah frowned at Harry's expression. "Now don't look at me that way Harry. It should only take a few days, you said so yourself, and besides, there could be a really good story in it for me."

"So you're just going to put this stranger up in your house until he recovers. And it's only for the story." He looked dubious.

"Well, alright, he did literally end up on my doorstep, and I feel sort of responsible for him. Oh, Harry," she said animatedly as she grabbed his arm. "You really should see the way things are at St. George's."

"So you said. You're going to do one of your 'daring exposes', aren't you," he said, smiling. It was good to see her excited about something, anything, even if he did get the feeling that at some point the whole adventure was going to go pear-shaped.

She nodded with a huge grin. "You just bet I am. That place was appalling and someone needs to do something about it. It makes me wonder what they do with the so called normal people they can't place. Well, you had just better believe me when I say that I'm going to do my best to find out. Who are they to say who's normal and who isn't? They're not a psychiatric hospital! How so they determine where to draw the line between normal and brain damaged? Oh, you wait till I get through with them."

Once again Harry watched her working herself up to rightful indignation, knowing knew her mind was already made up.

Sarah went on, oblivious to Harry's reactions. "Can you just picture poor John in a mental institution? How can anyone be so cold and heartless as to do that to someone just because you can't fit them into some sort of niche? You're dead right I'm going to expose them and I'm going to love every minute of it, too."

"I don't suppose it will do any good to ask you to be careful," Harry said.

"Of course I'll be careful. Aren't I always? Honestly Harry, you act as if I'm going to just dash off and throw myself headlong into this without looking. A good reporter always does her research first, you ought to know that by now." Sarah gave him a head shake and a reproachful glance.

He looked at her skeptically. She'd probably already started the wheels in motion. No point in arguing. "In that case, I think I'll turn in."

"You do that Harry, I'm sure that you're as tired as I am right now." She yawned. "It's been a long night. Do you want to take the first or the second shift with John?"

"I can manage by myself," Harry said. "You get some sleep, I'll keep an eye on him. I packed an alarm clock, and I'll keep the guest room door open so I can hear if something happens."

* * *

><p>When her alarm went off, Sarah got up, dressed, then headed into the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone. Much to her surprise, she walked in to find John sitting at the table with her toaster scattered about in several pieces. She watched him for a moment. He seemed to be putting it back together with a butter knife.<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

"Good Morning. Looks to me as if we're not having toast with breakfast today John," she laughed. "Perhaps it's for the best, lately the toaster blackens the bread unless I watch over it and unplug it after a few seconds. Getting toast from it these days is more or less a gamble. If you win, toast, if you lose, you get a burnt offering."

John laughed at the pun, looking a little embarrassed. "I'm afraid I've already ... er ... discovered the problem." He motioned towards a plate on the counter with four charred objects that might have started out as sliced bread. "I thought I'd make you some breakfast, but that doesn't seem to have panned out."

"I see," said Sarah as she examined the now brick-like bread, tapping it on the plate. "This one might break the dish." She set the toast down and sighed. "Maybe we should just give the poor old thing a proper burial and later I'll go out and buy a new one." She sadly picked up the rubbish bin and held it out to John so he could dump the toaster parts into it.

John looked at her as though she had three heads and the middle one was on fire. "Wh-why throw out a perfectly good toaster? It's just the temperature setting that was off. I've readjusted it and I'll have it back together in a minute. Here, hang about." And true to his word, just under a minute later the toaster (minus a small fortune in breadcrumbs) was reassembled. He plugged it in and dropped in one more piece of bread, then pushed down the lever and waited. Thirty seconds later, a beautiful, golden brown piece of light toast popped up. "There, see?" He held it out to her.

Sarah looked at the toast and then up at John. "You know something John," she beamed at him. "You're brilliant."

"It's just a toaster," he said, smiling shyly. "It's the least I could do." He brushed the crumbs into the wastebasket.

"I still think the way you fixed it is amazing, and to tell you the truth, I'm actually very partial to that old toaster. You see, it has a lot of memories attached to it. When I was small, and whenever my Aunt was home she used to make toast for me with it in the morning before I went to school," she smiled warmly at the thought. "And, to show you how grateful I am, I'm going make you the biggest breakfast you ever saw. You have only to tell me what you'd like to eat, and it's yours."

"I hadn't thought much past toast. I don't even know if I know how to cook," he laughed. "So I'll trust your judgement." John beamed with pride, almost, but not quite, like a small child seeing his picture on the refrigerator. "At least there's something I can do."

"Well, you now rank as a genius as far as I'm concerned. Would you like eggs? I can make them in almost any style from scotch eggs to an omelet. I can also make black pudding, fried bread, kippers, rashers, broiled fish, steak and kidneys, mutton, you name it. I'll make you a real feast of it if you like. After all, this morning, you're my hero."

Harry, still in his pajamas, walked in just as Sarah Jane was offering to cook for John. He didn't like the idea of her spoiling John this way. He could just about guess what she was still wishing. "Goodness," he said, "that's an awful lot of food. Did John jump in front of a bullet for you or something?"

"Sentimentally attached to her toaster," John said, as though that explained it all.

Harry raised an eyebrow at both of them. "Was someone trying to shoot it?"

"Not exactly," Sarah giggled. "I almost buried it alive and John came to it's rescue."

"To be fair," John said, pointing to the black bricks that it had originally produced as he cleaned up more crumbs on the counter, "it was masquerading as a deadly weapon."

"You know, maybe it was a mistake to fix it," Sarah laughed. "We might have been able to sell those bread bombs to the military as a new kind of weapon."

"Well, you can take it up with the Brig, but I very much doubt that he would be interested in the matter," said Harry, trying not to let it show that he disapproved of Sarah's fussing over John. "I should also like to point out my dear Miss Smith that you have two starving men in your kitchen. Do you require any assistance with breakfast? I do seem to recall a feast was mentioned."

Sarah Jane looked over at John and winked at him. "Well, I can't have men dropping from hunger in my kitchen now, can I? You two take some dishes and utensils out and set the table, and I'll make breakfast. It should be finished by the time you're dressed and sitting at the table." She scooted them over to the cupboard, and handed them three plates, then the utensils. "Now go shoo while I cook," she smiled at them.

John took the plates, leaving the utensils for Harry and heading for the dining room table. He was still wearing the clothes Sarah had bought him the day before, and they definitely looked like he'd slept in them, which he had. "Good morning," he said to Harry as they set the table. "Thank you for keeping an eye on me last night."

"You're quite welcome, old chap. It really wasn't any trouble. I'm sure you'll be pleased to learn that the worst of it's over now." He smiled his best professional smile. "You had very favorable responses last night, so I'm reasonably certain that there's no longer a need to be concerned, and there shouldn't be any serious problems now with that head wound, as long as it's properly looked after."

"Very good to hear," John said as he sat down. He touched the huge dressing on his head. "Any idea how long I need to look like a stand-in from 'Return of the Mummy'?"

"Well, you could keep it on till All Hallow's Eve and scare the kiddies, but that's a ways off, so if you really don't want it, I suspect we can change the bandages one or two more times and if it's closing well, then we can put a small bandage on it till it's completely healed. You can't be too careful with a head wound like that. An infection is actually more dangerous than the lesion itself in most cases like this."

John got quiet for a moment. "I still can't remember anything."

"That should clear up very soon. Best not to worry about it, old boy." He patted John on the shoulder reassuringly. "You'll have your memory back and be on your way home in no time." 'And the sooner the better, for every one's sake,' Harry thought to himself.

In a short while, Sarah had breakfast prepared and on the table and they were enjoying their meal.

"Have some more scotch eggs John," Sarah said, handing him the plate as he finished the one he was eating. "There's only a few left and they're not as good warmed over as the first time you have them."

"Even warmed over," he said with a mouthful as he took two more, "they're better than anything else I've eaten," he mumbled.

"Give me the kippers any day," Harry said, piling the fish on his plate. It was as though he and John were competing to see who could put away a bigger breakfast. "You can't beat a nice salty kipper, I always say. And these are just splendid, Sarah Jane, thank you. Though they can probably smell them next door," he laughed.

Sarah's face started to turn green as she got a good whiff of the kippers Harry practically waved under her face. She hadn't felt good about them by the time she'd put them on the table, but now they were unbearable. "Oh dear, I think I smell something burning. If you gentlemen will excuse me, I'll be back in a moment," she said. "I must have left a burner on in the kitchen." She walked as quickly as she could without breaking into a run.

Harry watched her go, chewing absently on another piece of fish. Then he looked over at John, who seemed oblivious as he downed a fourth scotch egg. "Are you much of a cricket fan old boy? I was thinking of going to see Marylebone play Middlesex, maybe you'd like to come with me. Should be over by five or so."

John thought about it as he chewed. "I'm not sure how I feel about cricket, actually. I suppose we'll find out, won't we," he said, chewing happily.

"I've got five quid on Marylebone," said Harry excitedly. "Today's only the first day but if they win by five runs, I get a return of twenty five quid."

"Five quid at five to one on five runs, done by five," John said. "Too bad it's not quite May yet."

It took Harry a second to get John's meaning, but then he laughed. "Five to five to five to five by five if it were May. You are the clever one aren't you, John?"

John looked up from the rasher of bacon he was eating, surprised. "Hm? Simple pattern," he said. "Maybe I'm a mathematician."

Sarah came back into the room just then. "Hmmm, Royal Mathematician to the Queen. Has a nice sound to it I think," she said, laughing.


	9. Chapter 9

That afternoon, after Sarah had insisted they'd be fine while Harry went to work, John lay on the couch. The television was on, but clearly he wasn't watching it. Instead he was staring out the window. Suddenly the phone rang, and he sprang up and stared expectantly as Sarah answered it.

"Hullo," said Sarah. She looked around, saw John, and smiled at him before she turned her attention to her caller. "Did you find out anything about them," she asked calmly. She smiled again. "Marvelous, now just behave naturally and remember to call me every few days and report in. I'll come in a few days and pay you."

John let out the breath he'd been holding and tried not to look as disappointed as he felt. Obviously this was not the police calling to say that someone had come looking for him. He went back to the couch and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes to try and stop the pounding.

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. Sarah sat down next to him. "I'm sorry John, it wasn't about you. Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"

He forced a smile. "You don't need to apologize because you have a life. I just ... I feel like I'm in some kind of limbo. Not here, not there, not anywhere. But that's not your problem."

Sarah looked at him and couldn't help but thinking for perhaps the third or fourth time today how much John reminded her of the Doctor. The Doctor always seemed as if he were in limbo too, never really belonging anywhere either. She always sensed that it was the reason he felt the need to be so transient. As if he was constantly searching for a place where he could fit in. She saw John's lost expression and smiled warmly at him. "My Auntie used to say that trouble shared is trouble halved. Would you like to go for a walk with me, John? Maybe if we wander around for a while, someone will recognize you." Sarah gave him a look that was almost a dare.

He loved that smile. It was contagious. "Sure. If nothing else, they'll notice this thing," he said, pointing to the bandages.

"Look there's no point in feeling sorry for yourself with me. I'm the type that believes in action, not moping about." She paused for a moment. 'I'm a fine one to talk, aren't I?' She'd been feeling sorry for herself ever since the Doctor had dropped her off.

Looking at John, she realized things could be worse than they were. What was it about him that touched her and brought things out in her that only one other person ever managed to? She pushed those thoughts far back into her mind. She didn't want to think about that now. "Are you coming or not?" she asked John.

"I suppose," he said, looking around for his shoes, "that I'm the sort of man who can't resist a dare." His shoes had curled up as they'd dried, but he forced his feet into them, then stood up and held out an elbow for Sarah.

Sarah smiled as she took his arm. "Well, let's go then, shall we?"

He held the door open for her before stepping through. "You know, maybe we'll pass my house, and everything will come flooding back to me. You live here, have you ever seen me about?"

Sarah sighed sadly then shrugged. "Sorry no, you see I've only just returned here after being away for years. I'm afraid I haven't been out much since I got back. You could live three houses down and I wouldn't know it."

He nodded. "Wow, you've been gone for years? Did you move away and move back or something?"

Sarah laughed softly and shook her head in affirmation. "All of the above, left, came back and definitely did something."

"Sounds interesting," he said as he followed her down the street. "What were you doing? If I'm not being too nosy," he added quickly.

"I was an assistant to a scientific explorer. He and I traveled together for over six years. We used to have the most amazing adventures together," Sarah's face grew soft as she became lost in thought about the Doctor. She didn't realize it, but the longing she felt was quite obvious. Any one could hear the caring and pain in her voice and see the feelings she had for the Doctor.

"What happened to him?" John asked quietly.

"He had to go someplace very far away and I couldn't go with him. I really don't think he wanted to, but he was obligated, you see," she said quietly, barely managing not to cry.

John stopped walking and looked at her. It was almost as if sadness just poured off of her. Here he was feeling sorry for himself, and she was completely devastated. At least he didn't know what he was missing. Without a word, he quietly enfolded her in his arms and held her.

Sarah didn't stop him. John was just what she needed. He was someone who didn't know what happened and wouldn't lecture her like her well-meaning friends had. She had been so lost and sad for so long, she needed to let it out before it took over her whole life and completely broke her. So, she just cried softly while he hugged her. It felt so good to be comforted.

He just held her as she cried, aching for her. He wanted so badly to help her, as though it was somehow his place to fix things for her. Maybe it was just because she'd been the first person he'd seen; it was almost as if she'd imprinted herself on him, and now she was part of him. Of course, if he told her that, she'd probably think he was a madman, and run away from him as fast as she could. So he resisted the urge to stroke her hair and just held her. He'd have to be content being a shoulder for her. It would have to be enough.

* * *

><p>That evening, as Sarah made dinner for everyone, John and Harry both moved upstairs. Harry had declared John well enough to get around by himself, so Sarah had insisted that he move into the other bed in the guest room, where he could be more comfortable. Harry, meanwhile, had decided to stay for a while - until he was sure John was completely recovered, he said - and John helped him bring his suitcases up to the guest room.<p>

"Harry," John said, closing the bedroom door so Sarah wouldn't hear them, "do you know anything about this explorer Sarah used to travel with?"

Harry was bending over the bed unpacking, but he stood up immediately. "Did she tell you about **him**, then?" he asked.

John felt as though he'd been physically pushed by the intensity of Harry's reaction. "She just ... from the way she was talking, I thought he died or something, but she says he just went away."

Harry sighed deeply, then he looked over at John. There was something about him that just made you feel very comfortable with him. "I suppose I shouldn't say this, but she's in been in love with him for ages. Everyone who knew them knew about it, but we kept quiet about it because we all knew it wouldn't end well for her. Then a couple of months ago she showed back up all by herself. Seems he just up and left her. It's broken her heart. They were together for so many years, and I hate to see her so unhappy about it."

"I can imagine. That you hate to see her unhappy, I mean," he said quickly. "I can't imagine anyone leaving her."

"Yes well, if he does come back for her, and I doubt that he will, he's got several UNIT members that are going to call him out for it. Myself included."

John nodded. "She seems to think he didn't have a choice."

"Humph, well of course she'd let him off the hook, but then, she'd forgive him for anything. I've known him long enough to agree with the Brig's theory that by now he's got someone else and he's probably leading her on the same way he did poor Sarah."

John nodded, but something didn't seem right. "Are you sure?"

"Trust me, I've known both of them for years. He's not the type to settle down or stay with anyone for very long, not even someone as wonderful as Sarah Jane. She deserves much better, and she could have anyone she wants. Unfortunately, he's the only one she's ever wanted. The Brig's known them longer than I have and he'll tell you that she's always been that way, since the two of them met."

John just nodded again. "Well, thanks. I just ... I was just curious."

"I'm just hoping she accepts it eventually and gets over him. If she does then maybe someone else will have a chance with her. She deserves to find happiness." Harry went back to unpacking as if it were the most important thing in the world.

"She certainly does," John said, and quietly went back downstairs.


	10. Chapter 10

Several days had passed and Sarah's house guest still hadn't gotten his memory back. He had however, fixed every broken appliance in the house and much to Harry's dismay, Sarah seemed to be thoroughly enjoying having John around. He didn't like it, not one bit.

John seemed like a nice enough and quite harmless fellow. The two of them had had a great time at the match, and Harry found that he even enjoyed himself despite losing his bet. As suspicious as he wanted to be, he found it was impossible not to like John.

On the other hand, he was certain that Sarah was up to something that could be very dangerous, and that John was somehow connected to it all. He couldn't find fault with anything John did, but he had been watching Sarah closely and she had been making some fairly long trips to the grocer's lately, and had refused to let Harry go with her when she went. There was always some excuse made, such as "Stay and keep John company, I prefer to shop on my own," or, one day when he was particularly insistent, "You tend to your duties Harry, I'll tend to mine."

She hadn't mentioned investigating St. George again either, but every evening, she sat down and pounded away at her keyboard furiously. He tried to find out what she was writing about, but when he went to look at what she was doing, Sarah ripped the paper out of her typewriter and locked it away before he could see it. She smiled and dismissed it, saying that she never let anyone read one of her stories until it was done. Clearly, she was up to something, and Harry was concerned that she could be getting in over her head.

John, meanwhile, was getting antsy. The "several days" the doctors had set aside for his memory to return were gone, and he still couldn't remember a thing before waking up on Sarah's stoop. He'd taken to wandering down the street hoping someone would recognize him, but he never got far before he felt like he needed to come back "home" so he didn't get lost. One evening, as Sarah was furiously typing away, he wandered up into her office and sat quietly, not wanting to interrupt her.

He was so quiet that she didn't notice him until she had typed a line with which she was particularly satisfied. She hit the last key with a flourish, pulled back from her desk to relax and nearly jumped out of her skin. "Oh John," she laughed nervously as she recovered. "You gave me such a start, how long have you been sitting there?"

"Sorry, just a short while. I didn't mean to startle you," he apologized. "It's just been a few minutes, but I know how you like to concentrate."

Sarah smiled warmly at him. "It's alright, no worries. You look as if you've got something serious on your mind John, would you like to talk about it?"

He shrugged a little. "Am I ..." He struggled to put his concern into words.

Sarah reached over and put her hand on his shoulder. "It's alright John, take your time, I can wait."

"Do you know something about me that I don't know?" he finally asked.

She shook her head sadly. "No, I wish I did. I have been working very hard to find out anything I can about you John, but so far, I haven't gotten any results. Don't give up though, because I'm not going to."

He smiled shyly. "Thank you. I just ... you're so protective, and Harry seems so concerned, it's almost like you both know who I am but you're waiting for me to figure it out." He laughed gently, no suspicion in his voice.

"If only it was that simple John," she smiled.

Sarah didn't tell him that she had investigated the jeweler who'd made the ring in his pocket, only to find that they had gone out of business several years ago. She hadn't gotten any results from the search for him she had asked the Brig to conduct either, nor from all of the fliers they had put out and mailed, nor the calls they had made.

She'd decided that the fact that there was absolutely nothing at all on him made him even more interesting, and she became even more determined to learn all she could. The less she knew about him, the more intriguing he became. But she kept that, and the fact the he reminded her of the Doctor, to herself. She had no intention of letting Harry or the Brig lecture her about it. "The plain truth is," she said, "you're a very kind person and easy to like. Harry has grown very fond of you, as have I."

"It's ... um ... mutual," John said. "What are you writing?" he asked, changing the subject.

Sarah smiled warmly. "Tonight, I'm working on a science fiction story. It's the adventures of a young girl named Nicola Jones. She travels through time and space with an alien who calls himself 'The Doctor'. They get into all sorts of trouble while they wander about the universe."

John chuckled. "That sounds great! And definitely a change from South Croydon. Could I ... read it?"

"Would you, I'd love to have an unbiased opinion of it."

When Harry came upstairs about an hour later, the door was open, and as he walked into the room, he saw Sarah and John sitting on the office couch, heads together, laughing as John read what she had written.

"Is it done?" He called out as he walked into the room. "Does that mean I can read it too?" Harry's voice was almost wounded.

Sarah looked up and suddenly felt guilty. "It's not done, but I wanted John's opinion." She gave him a look that was obviously apologetic. "I needed him to read it because he's sort of a disinterested third party."

Harry seemed mollified. "Well, I suppose that makes sense, though I never thought the history of UNIT was that funny."

"Uhm," Sarah bit her lip and shrugged. "I'm afraid this isn't the history of UNIT. I've been working on another book as well."

Harry looked at her curiously. "Really? Can I read it?"

"Yes, but only if you promise to have an open mind and a closed mouth about it." Sarah was very adamant at this point. "I have a contract that says I can't talk about the books until they're published. This is the first one in a series. The publisher thinks it's going to sell very well."

Harry's attitude softened. Maybe this was the conspiracy that was occupying her time. "I promise I won't say a word." He started reading and in a few moments, he was frowning, then he started to smile. "I say, this organization, WIN, the World Investigative Network, it sounds an awful lot like... it is isn't it? It's a story based on... am I in this too?" He started to laugh in awe as he recognized yet another character. "I'd wager anything that General Lutwidge-Douglas is..." Before he could say anything else, Sarah Jane put her hand up to his mouth.

"Now Harry, you promised not to say a word, and no, you're not in any of the books until the sixth one," she laughed.

John looked at them incredulously. "Suddenly this is even more interesting," he laughed. "Did you base this on your travels, then?"

Sarah looked at Harry accusingly, but still laughing. "There, you see? Even John managed to figure it out because of you."

Harry laughed with them. "What are you going to call me? Something suitably James Bond-ish, I hope, like 'Roger Goodbody', or 'Nigel Handsome'."

Sarah Jane tried hard not to choke with laughter, but she couldn't help it. "'Roger Goodbody' or 'Nigel Handsome'? Oh please, Harry," she said, trying to stop laughing long enough to breathe. "Since you can't be a Bond Girl, would that make you a 'WIN Boy'?" Now she was holding her sides as she fell to the floor in fits of giggles.

Not having been exposed to James Bond in his current state, John had no idea what they were talking about, but clearly it was hilarious to her, and Harry's reaction didn't make it any easier not to laugh.

"I say," Harry said, laughing and blushing, "I did my share of heroics while we were traveling. Remember that time I infiltrated that..." He caught the cautionary glare that Sarah, who had suddenly stopped laughing, threw at him. "... that scientific outpost that was causing all that trouble for the natives."

John was still laughing. "I had no idea Africa could be so interesting."

"Well, " said Sarah Jane trying hard not to lie. "Uhm, it really isn't quite like that, this story is embellished, you see. It's been written as science fiction. Of course though, if Harry's not careful I may make the name of his character Lumby Wartbottom," she said, starting to laugh again as Harry good-naturedly grumbled. "But you're meant to believe that it's about an alien invasion of Earth."

"Well, I definitely believe it," John laughed. "I'll say it again, you've got a great imagination. That Sontauran fellow..." He shuddered.

"Thank you John, I did sort of base it on my travels, and then I just stretched the truth about it." Sarah smiled awkwardly.

"Well, you really did a great job. I love the DISTAR. Except ..." John got thoughtful. "If the doorway to the police box is really just a gateway to a transdimentional space, why would it crush the flowers underneath the illusion of the three dimensional representation?"

Sarah paused for a moment and then looked over at Harry. He was no help at all, him smiling at her and enjoying the fact that she was at a loss.

"It's fiction, John, there's probably a good reason for it, I just haven't thought of one yet. Unless," she paused, reaching to come up with an acceptable answer. "Since DISTAR stands for Dimensions In Space Time And Relativity, it has some kind of body mass."

John chewed on that answer for a moment, then smacked himself in the head. "No, of course, it's not that it has mass, it's that the gateway itself is three dimensional, in the shape of the police box. It would have to be, I mean a doorway is a gateway into a room, so it's a two dimensional gateway into a three dimensional space. Of course the gateway into a four dimensional space would have to be three dimensional, so it would have to have volume and displace the space within it, and crush the flowers." He smiled, pleased with himself.

Sarah looked over at Harry again. This time, she was stunned. How could John come up with an explanation like that? It sounded exactly like something the Doctor would say.

Harry's expression said very clearly that he was thinking the same thing. Maybe he was wrong to discourage Sarah.

"Oooh, full wastebasket," John said. "Can I empty it for you?"

"Certainly, thank you John." Sarah watched him head down the steps, then she looked back at Harry and shook her head as if to say, 'Of course he's not. What where we thinking?'

* * *

><p>Sarah looked at her watch for the third time in ten minutes. She had been waiting in a booth at the back of the restaurant sipping her tea for almost twenty minutes. Finally she saw a shabbily dressed man walking towards her. He slipped into the bench across from her and motioned the waitress over. He ordered a huge meal and then turned to face Sarah Jane.<p>

"Did you find out anything?" she asked.

"I sure did." He pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes and lit one up, clearly enjoying it. "There's definitely something going on. I mean, everything seems to be on the up-and-up, unless they send you to the doctor. Then you got a fifty-fifty shot of coming back. Seems like it's the slow ones, or the crazy ones, or the ones who've been in the bottle a little too long, they just don't come back." He took a long drag and let it out slowly, looking anxiously for his meal. "Got everyone there good and spooked, I'll tell you that."

"Hmm, that is definitely worth looking into," said Sarah. "Do you know the name of the Doctor they're sending these people to?"

Tommy shook his head. "Nobody's saying much of anything, but I got a couple of missing person names for you." He slipped her a ragged scrap of paper.

"Right then, looks like I'll have to take the matron up on her offer to let me investigate their books." Sarah sipped the last of her tea and then picked up the check. "I'm afraid I'll need you to stay with this a while longer," she said as she pulled an envelope out of her pocket and handed it to him.

"Easily done," he said, taking a quick glance at the envelope's contents before slipping it into his pocket. "You make it well worth my time to stay on the job," he smiled, yellow teeth glinting back at her.

Sarah Jane smiled back at him as she got up and walked away, preoccupied with the missing homeless people.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Doctor Who Magazine Winter Special 1991 has an article that explains that Sarah Jane went on to write not just this history of UNIT, but also a series of novels based on her travels. We've found a reference that mentions Nicola Jones, the Doctor, WIN, and General Lutwidge-Douglas, but we don't have any further details. If anybody knows more about it (including what Harry was ultimately named, or what she called the TARDIS) could you please let us know? We'd really appreciate it!<p>

And as always, thanks for the reviews, they make it all worthwhile...


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: Normally we're very careful about proofing our stories, but apparently on Saturday our last set of changes didn't get saved, and we didn't realize it until the next day. So to everyone who had to suffer through less than clear transitions, we're sorry! Also, we had added the following note at the bottom:

Doctor Who Magazine Winter Special 1991 has an article that explains that Sarah Jane went on to write not just this history of UNIT, but also a series of novels based on her travels. We've found a reference that mentions Nicola Jones, the Doctor, WIN, and General Lutwidge-Douglas, but we don't have any further details. If anybody knows more about it (including what Harry was ultimately named, or what she called the TARDIS) could you please let us know? We'd really appreciate it!

Finally, we apologize if we don't get to answer reviews right away. We're posting this from McDonald's right now, because we were in the storm, and we won't have power for at least 2 days. :( But please keep them coming; we'll be checking mail as we can, and it really brightens our day!

That said, onward...

* * *

><p>Sarah Jane walked into St. George's shelter with a determined look on her face. "I'd like to see the matron please," she said, flashing her ID at the receptionist.<p>

"I'll see if she's available, Miss Smith," the woman answered, and pushed a button on the intercom.

"Yes," an icy voice answered.

"There's a reporter here to see you, Matron. Her name is Sarah Jane Smith."

"Tell her I'll be down in a few moments," came an annoyed reply.

"I heard her, thank you," said Sarah. "I'll just sit here and wait for her shall I," she said, sitting on a nearby bench. She stayed there until she saw the Matron heading down the hall towards her. "Good afternoon, Matron," said Sarah, rising as she greeted her.

"Good afternoon, Miss Smith. I suppose you've come to talk about Mister Doe. Are you ready to bring him back here yet?"

"Thank you, no," said Sarah, her tone as cold as the matron's. "He's fine where he is and quite happy as well. I have no intention of bringing him back here. Actually, I'm here to take you up on your offer to inspect your paperwork."

The Matron sighed. "Of course, Miss Smith, we have nothing to hide here at Saint George's. You understand of course that personal information on our guests is confidential, but I'll be happy to direct you towards our operational records," she said, in a tone that made it clear that she was anything but.

"That would be fine, thank you," said Sarah as she followed the tall skinny woman into her office.

* * *

><p>Sarah sat at the desk the matron had provided, reading every page and making notes as though the Matron weren't glaring at her back the whole time. She made sure to look at all of the records, not just in case she saw something suspicious, but so that it wouldn't be quite so obvious that here interests lay in so-called "slow ones," the "crazy ones" that didn't come back from visiting the doctor. It seemed as though patients sent to one Doctor Linus were least likely to return, but while the names she'd been given had all been sent to him, the pattern wasn't conclusive; she'd have to study it more carefully when she got home. After several hours, she put her notebook away and turned to face the matron.<p>

"I trust you found everything in order, Miss Smith," the older woman said in an icy tone.

"Everything was just as I expected to find it, Matron, in perfect order and flawless," Sarah Jane answered her. She took one last sip from the cup the matron had begrudgingly offered her when the tea cart came around. She packed her things back into her bag and then extended her hand out. "Thanks for the tea, it was lovely. We must do this again some time," she smiled sarcastically at her.

"At our mutual convenience," the Matron said.

Sarah gave her a look that clearly said, 'Oh please, hold your breath until that happens, won't you?' but said nothing as she left the office and headed back out to her car. She whistled happily to herself as she opened the door and slid into the drivers seat. She had what she came for and the matron hadn't a clue as to what she'd found. She would have bet almost anything that what she had been shown was only what she was meant to see and not the whole truth. No worries, she'd get to the bottom of things soon enough.

* * *

><p>When Sarah Jane returned home, she called out to John, but he didn't answer. She was about to panic, but then she saw a note addressed to her. She read it at once and breathed a sigh of relief when she learned that Harry had dropped John off at the library on his way to work. He was waiting there for her to pick him up. She glanced at the clock. It was almost noon. She had time to head over to visit a friend of hers at a local newspaper before she picked John up. First she had a few phone calls to make. She wanted to check Doctor Linus out before she went anywhere.<p>

Sarah hung up the phone with a satisfied smile. After a few calls she had found out that Doctor Linus was a neurologist. He had earned a very impressive reputation working with wealthy and titled patients up until several months ago, when he decided to dedicate his practice to serving only underprivileged cases. She wondered what had brought on his sudden change of heart, but shrugged as she picked up the notes she made on him and jotted down his office address.

She started whistling as she picked up her keys and headed back to the car. She drove over to the local newspaper offices and headed up to the second floor, then strode over to her friend's desk. "Well well, how's the boy wonder of Ealing today? Get any hot tips lately Michael?" she smiled warmly at him.

"You're the investigative reporter, lady," Michael said. "What's hot under your collar? Dunked any politicians in the Thames lately?" he smiled back at her.

"Not for weeks," she laughed. "I think I'm overdue though. I was wondering if I could ask a favor of you. I need to do some research and I'd like to spend some time in the morgue. Would that be a problem for your boss?"

"I wouldn't think so. You file enough stories with us, I'm sure he'd appreciate anything that makes them better." He paused. "You are going to file this one with us, right?"

"If I get a story out of my research, your paper gets first crack at it as always." She flipped her bag open. "Now, if you have no objections, I'm off to browse through archives."

He stood and pointed her towards the morgue with a flourish.

Sarah Jane gave him an imaginary tip of her hat and headed back towards the elevator. After an hour or so, she decided she had enough information to start with. Her stomach was growling and she needed to go pick John up.

When she got to the library, she looked around and spotted John sitting at a table poring over a microfiche machine. She walked over to him and leaned down. "Discover anything important yet, John?"

"Other than the fact that you can go blind reading a microfiche, not much," he sighed. "Well, that's not strictly true," he said, pointing to a thick stack of paper with names and addresses on it. "I have compiled a list of law enforcement agencies and newspapers that might have a clue about a missing person. Now I just have to work out how to contact them, and what to say. Oh, and ..." He pointed to a thick stack of books, one from seemingly every department in the non-fiction section. "Can I borrow your library card?" He looked up at her hopefully.

Sarah laughed softly. "Of course you can, but you better let me take those out. They know me here, and you don't look a thing like me."

"Oh, that's all right," he said brightly. "They'll know it's for me. I tried to get my own card, but when I couldn't tell them what name to put on it they got a little hesitant."

Sarah put her hand on John's shoulder. "Come on then, let's take these out and I'll treat you to lunch."

"Sounds great," John said, putting the current fiche he'd been reading back in its envelope. "I'm starving."

* * *

><p>After lunch, Sarah and John went back to her house. She sat curled up in her favorite chair going over the results of her research and making notes. When she paused to think for a moment, she looked over at John. He was sprawled on the couch across from her pouring over one of the books he had taken out of the library. He was really an enigma of sorts. He looked so sweet and innocent, yet at the same time, she could tell he was enthralled with what he was reading. His eyes got huge from time to time and his expression ran the gamut from excited to amused in just a matter of moments. Something about him made her want to run a hand over his head dotingly and reassure him. She shook her head at herself. What was it about John that made her feel so protective towards him?<p>

Just a few seconds ago she had decided to make an appointment for John with Doctor Linus. After all, she wanted to help him get his memory back, and he would be perfectly safe if she went into the exam room with him, wouldn't he? She wondered if she was doing the right thing. She wasn't really using him after all, she was doing what was best for him. As his legal guardian, she owed it to him to get him medical attention for his memory problem. She bit her lip, what if John got hurt somehow because of her? She decided her best plan of action was to take him to the hospital that had initially treated him and let them take care of him. There were other ways to investigate Doctor Linus before she needed to resort to letting him examine John.

John tossed the fourth book aside after only a cursory look, then stopped, as though he could feel her eyes on him. He looked up at her, staring back curiously.

Sarah suddenly grew self conscious about getting caught staring at him. "Have you learned anything fascinating?" she asked him, trying to start up a conversation to avoid explaining what she was thinking.

"I've learned that if I was an accountant," he said, prodding the book he'd pushed aside, "I'm glad I lost my memory."

Sarah laughed. "I'm betting that you were never an accountant, John. If I had to make a guess, I'd say that based on all the appliances that you've fixed around here that you were Royal Handyman to the Queen."

"That's it," he laughed. "Toaster Repairman to the Queen. Oh, that reminds me," he said, climbing up off the couch. "I wanted to ask you about this thing." He pulled out a box that had been sitting in the corner, and lifted a wooden box filled with circuitry carefully from it. "What is this?"

"Oh, that, it's a new invention that I've been invited to try out. It's called an Apple Computer. It's a computer that actually fits in your house. It was just delivered last week." She smiled. It seemed so mundane compared to so many of the things she'd seen traveling with the Doctor, but to the people here, it was an incomprehensible wonder. "I'm supposed to call and make an appointment to get someone out to put it all together for me and show me how it works."

He listened attentively. "Do you mind of I play with it?"


	12. Chapter 12

Sarah hesitated for just a second, then thought about her toaster. "No, go right ahead, just be careful with it. Its somewhat costly I should think, but I trust you with it, John."

"Great," he bounced, and brought the computer back to the couch, where he began examining each of the components intently.

After a few moments, Sarah realized that John was so lost in the device she doubted if he knew she was still there. She went back to the chair and her notes. She had a lot to do and she knew John would eventually come out of his mechanically-induced fog. For now though, she'd leave him to it. He needed to occupy his mind. 'Just like the Doctor always did when something was troubling him,' she thought to herself, and then shook her head. It wasn't fair to John to keep comparing him to some one else all the time. Besides, she needed to get busy as well. She was still working on her notes when Harry walked in from the back door of the kitchen to find her there in her favorite chair while John worked on the computer, which he had spread out in front of him all across the coffee table.

"Good heavens, what's all this, then?" Harry said, looking at the mess.

John looked up, startled. "Oh, hello, Harry! It's a computer," he said excitedly. "I think I've just about got it running," he said, using a pair of tweezers to pull a small piece of plastic off a pair of posts and push it back onto another set. "Just have to hook it up to the telly, and we can use it."

"A computer," Harry repeated, looking at the wooden box, then back at Sarah with amusement.

Sarah Jane looked up from her notes and nodded at Harry as she took a bite out of the apple she was eating.

John turned on the television and made a few final adjustments, then turned on the computer.

Nothing happened.

He furrowed his brow. A few moments later he turned off the computer, then picked up a soldering iron and solder, and went back to work on the circuit board.

Harry sat down next to Sarah. "So how's work going?"

Sarah looked up at him again. "Hmm? Oh, it's moving along nicely." Then she turned to see what it was she smelled burning and saw John puttering with the computer. "Oh my, has it gone on the fritz already, John?"

"It's all right," John said, blowing on the connections. "I just missed one when I wired in the keyboard," he mumbled. He turned on the computer once more. Letters appeared on the telly, and he whooped with joy.

Sarah looked at the telly with surprise. "That's truly amazing, John. From what I've been told, there are only a handful of men in the country right now that know how to put one of those things together. You must have been Court Electrician to the Queen," she said appreciatively.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that Electrician to the Queen can't do this," he said, and started typing furiously. After a few moments, a cassette recorder attached to the device started to whir, stopping after about 30 seconds. He started typing again, and a few seconds later, the words, "SARAH JANE IS TERRIFIC" started flooding the screen. He smiled at her with a goofy grin.

"Thank you John," Sarah laughed. "Look at what you've done! That makes you terrific too!"

"It's called BASIC," John said. "You can make this thing do whatever you want."

"Well, that'll be jolly handy," Harry said, smiling at Sarah. "Looks like you've got yourself quite the tinkerer here."

"Yes," said Sarah. "It's seems John is a whiz concerning all things mechanical. In the short time since he's been here, he's fixed everything in the house that was broken, and improved quite a few other things as well."

Harry looked at her. There was that smile on her face again. "I can see that." A notation in her notes caught his eye. "Doctor Linus?"

"Uhm, yes. He's been working with St. George's. I was down there today checking out a few things. I ah, don't suppose you know him by any chance, do you Harry?" she asked as she slipped the papers she had spread out into a folder.

Harry could smell trouble. He could just see it in her eyes. "No, I haven't needed a neurology consult in some time." He looked over at John. "But I understand he's very good. Pretty miraculous results, actually."

"What have you heard about him," Sarah asked casually as she stood and started to clean up the area she was working in.

Harry searched his memory. "A while ago he was making headlines in the scientific community for some fairly novel approaches to dendrite regeneration, healing brain injuries and such. Did you say he was working with the homeless?"

"Yes, I've been researching him and for no obvious reasons other than a change of heart, he went from treating only very wealthy clients exclusively for years, to caring for homeless patients a few months ago. What do you make of that?"

Harry thought about it for a moment. "If I were talking to anyone but you, I'd say, 'why is it so strange that he would have a change of heart?' But clearly, I am talking to you."

"My instincts are seldom wrong, Harry. Why would a man go from making scads of money from rich influential patients to suddenly offering his services for free to indigent people that are forced by their unfortunate circumstances to live in a homeless shelter?"

"I feel the need to make a sarcastic remark," Harry said, "but I get the feeling it would not be well received."

"No it wouldn't," she said, giving him a warning look. "Now then, what if I go make dinner for us while you go and change. John, we're going to eat in about forty-five minutes, is that alright with you?"

After a few moments, when John didn't answer, Harry ushered her out of the room. "Don't worry, I'll let him know when I've changed. I don't think he'll take his nose out of that thing for a while."

Sarah glanced over at John, enthralled in his tinkering with the computer, and laughed. "Alright then, but make sure you're both at the table by the time dinner's ready," she said as she headed into the kitchen.

* * *

>The next day everything was going well. Harry had gone to work, John had gotten up and resumed fiddling with the computer, and Sarah Jane was back in her favorite chair in the front room working on a plan of action when suddenly, Sarah had a feeling that there was someone else in the room. She looked up and heading straight towards her was a lion-like alien from Veattar Major.<p><p> 


	13. Chapter 13

She recognized him at once. He was someone that she and the Doctor had once helped. His people were being hunted down and killed for their beautiful long green fur. He had a huge metallic object in his hands and as he got closer, she suddenly remembered that John was only a few feet away from him. She jumped up quickly and shoved the Veattaran into a nearby closet and then turned to John. "I just remembered John, I left the water running in the basement. Could you please run down there at once and shut it off for me?"

John looked up from what he was doing. "Hm? Oh, certainly," he said, and headed down into the basement.

Sarah ran to the closet, opened the door and curtsied. "My humblest apologies your majesty, but there was someone else in the room and if he saw you, it could have caused problems for both of us. Could I please ask you to go to another room upstairs and stay there for me a few moments? I promise not to keep you waiting very long."

As he opened his mouth to answer, they heard John's voice as he started back up the stairs. "No water running down here, Sarah Jane," he was saying.

"I'm sorry," apologized Sarah Jane again as she pushed the alien towards the steps. "Just go into the second door on the left," she said as she headed towards the basement door before John could reach the top of the steps. She shut it behind her quickly, just as John reached her. "You know John, while you're here, could you come and look at something with me? The water heater has been making some strange noises lately."

"Really?" John asked, "I didn't hear anything." He turned back down towards the water heater. "What kind of sounds has it been making?"

"Well, sometimes it sort of gurgles and sometimes it kind of squeaks. I would feel ever so much better if you took a look at it. It would really set my mind at ease."

"All right, then, I'll be happy to have a look at it. Maybe the element needs replacing..." He headed for the water heater.

Meanwhile Sarah's alien visitor had gotten disconcerted and headed back down the stairs to the living room, looking for her.

Luckily, Sarah heard his footsteps. "John, I just remembered something I have to take care of right away. Could you excuse me, please," she said as she ran for the steps, taking them two at a time.

"I must speak with you right away," said the furry monarch as she closed the basement door. "Time is of the essence."

"I understand, and again I beg your forgiveness. How ever did you manage to find me here, your majesty?"

"When you and the Doctor saved us, you spoke so eloquently of your home, of the Earth," he said, waving expansively. "When circumstances forced us to -"

"I've got to get your tools," John shouted from the basement, heading back up the stairs.

"Please wait here just one more moment. I promise I'll be right back. I'll get them for you John, hold on," she called out to him. She ran, snatched up the tool box and almost threw it at John as she opened up the basement door. "See," she was puffing hard. "They're right here, thanks again for checking on that for me. " She turned away and nearly slammed the door on him. She turned and then as she realized what she just did, wincing, she called out to John. "Sorry, didn't mean to do that."

"Sarah Jane Smith," said the alien gravely, "time is of the essence. You must listen to what we have to say. Danger is coming to your beloved Earth. You must -" he stopped, as though hearing something far away. "I must leave, or you will be in danger. Please take this," he said, handing her the cylinder, "and whatever happens, make sure you keep it safe." And with that he simply vanished.

Sarah's mouth hung open as she looked at the spot where the alien had just been standing and then at the cylinder in her hand. "Well, of all the... what was all that about?" There was no one there to hear her though, and once she got over her shock, she shrugged and walked away, lost in thought.

Suddenly she paused, then grinned widely with joy and relief. "I bet the Doctor is involved in all of this and that means he'll be coming back for me any minute now." She hugged the cylinder. "Oh you beautiful wonderful thing you." She sat down and cradled it in her arms.

She had no idea how long she had been sitting there with it when she heard someone calling to her, forcing her out of her dream-like state.

"Sarah Jane, are you all right?" John was kneeling down in front of her. "Sarah Jane?"

"Hmm? Oh John," she smiled at him sweetly. "I'm fine, better than fine actually. How are you?"

John saw her smiling, and involuntarily smiled back. "I'm fine, thank you. The water heater is too, there was just a little air in the lines. But you look exhausted. And what is that thing?" he asked, pointing at the cylinder.

"Thing? Oh, you mean this." Still cradling it, she looked down at the metal object in her arms. "It's a sort of message from someone very important to me." She looked back up at John and realized that she'd have to help him sort his life out before she could go anywhere with the Doctor. Maybe the Doctor could help her find out who he was when he got back. She started running through all the things she needed to do before she could leave with him.

"The Doctor?" John asked hopefully.

Sarah bit the bottom of her lip and nodded enthusiastically at him. "He's coming back for me, I'm sure of it."

John looked confused at her. "Well, of course he is. You didn't really think he'd just walked out on you, did you?"

"I'm afraid I was beginning to think he wasn't coming back at all. I should have known better, but he's been gone so long, and...well, a long time for him that is."

He pulled over one of the kitchen chairs and sat opposite her. "You said he had to go, surely it takes a while to do whatever it was he was doing."

Sarah smiled wistfully and gave John's hand a grateful squeeze. "I know that, John, it's just that I expected him back much sooner than this. You don't know him like I do, he always does things quite quickly. He's a very unusual man and a very wonderful one too. He'll be back soon though, and that's all that matters. Once he's back, everything will be all right again."

John nodded as though he understood, even though he didn't. He looked quizzically at the cylinder. "I didn't hear the mailman. He didn't bring any responses to our letters, did he?"

"No, this was sort of left here with me so I can hold onto it for him."

"Oh, so ... he didn't mail it? Had a messenger drop it off, eh? Did the messenger say anything about when he'd be back?" he asked.

"No, unfortunately he didn't. But I'm almost certain he'll arrive very soon now." Sarah jumped up suddenly. "Oh, look at me, I'm a mess. I've got to go change and fix my hair. I can't have him see me like this. Excuse me, won't you John, I'll be back in a little while." With the cylinder still in her arms, she ran upstairs to her room, whistling to herself.

* * *

><p>Harry Sullivan came into Sarah Jane's house through the back door and sniffed the air in the kitchen. He couldn't smell a thing cooking. He looked over at the stove and it wasn't even on. 'Perhaps Sarah made something earlier and she's just going to warm it up for us,' he mused. He walked into the front room and spotted John still going at the computer just as intently as he had been when Harry had left in the morning. "Hullo John. I say, have you moved from that spot at all today? Where's the lady of the house, then? Someone needs to inform her that the menfolk around here need to be fed," he said loudly, hoping Sarah would hear him and take his "subtle" hint.<p>

John looked up from his tinkering. "Oh, hello, Harry. Sarah Jane's ... er ... she's fixing herself up. She's expecting a visitor."

"Oh," Harry looked puzzled. "Did she say just whom she's expecting," he asked.

"Him," John said simply.

"Him," said a confused Harry. "I'm sorry John, you're going to have be more specific than that. Who's him?"

"The Doctor," he said as if it were obvious. "He sent her a message."

Harry frowned with anger. "Oh he did, did he? Well, when he gets here, I have a message for him as well."


	14. Chapter 14

Before John could answer him, Sarah came downstairs. She wasn't just smiling, she was glowing. She had taken a bath in rose scented water and she washed her hair and set it the way she knew the Doctor liked it. She had on a new dress that she had bought right after she had returned to Earth; she'd been saving it for the day the Doctor came back for her. As she made her descent, she noticed that Harry was back. "Oh hullo Harry. How was your day? Mine has been simply wonderful, thank you."

Harry took a deep breath; as angry as Sarah had to be about the Doctor, he knew from experience that she wouldn't take kindly to anyone else expressing it. On the other hand, while he was happy to see her like this again, he didn't want her to get her heart broken once more. "Wonderful, eh?" he asked cautiously.

"Yes Harry, absolutely wonderful," she answered. She laid her finger alongside of her nose and gave it a quick stroke, then shrugged her shoulders with glee. "There's only one thing that could make it better and that may happen any minute now." Her eyes were twinkling with anticipation.

"And that is?" he asked.

"Oh, come on, I'm sure John's told you what's happened by now. I've heard from the Doctor."

Harry took a deep breath and nodded slowly. "And he said...?"

"Well, he didn't exactly say anything." She twisted her fingers nervously like an excited child. "That is, he didn't get in touch with me directly, but I did get a sort of sign from someone that seemed to indicate that I should see him very soon."

He let out the breath he was holding. "You got a sign from ..." He could see the look on her face, a cross between excitement and hope, and didn't have the heart to tear her down. Instead he gently put an arm around her shoulder. "Sarah Jane, that doesn't sound very definite. I'd hate to see you get your hopes up, then have them dashed."

Sarah deliberately chose to ignore Harry's warning. She knew how he felt about the Doctor and she wasn't going to let anyone dampen her spirits right now. She decided that for now though, it was best to change the subject. "You know, I thought I heard some rumbling down here about starving men, but I really don't feel like cooking today, gentlemen. What would you both say to some Chinese takeaway?"

Harry sighed, knowing that like it or not, the discussion was over. "All right, you call them, and I'll drive down and pick it up."

"Can we get those pot stickers things we got last time?" John asked. "I like them."

"Of course we can, John. You can have anything you like. I'm in a mood to celebrate today." Sarah made a "so there" face at Harry before heading over to the phone.

Harry left mumbling about how he hoped he would be there when and if the Doctor decided to show his face again. He said he was pretty sure the Brig would have something to say to him as well.

Sarah Jane looked up at the clock. It was getting late, and if anything was going to happen, it had better happen soon. What if Harry was right? What if she was making too big a fuss over this? Maybe the Doctor wasn't coming back after all. She looked out of the window. The sun was setting and the moon was starting to rise. Today was almost over. She silently prayed that it wouldn't turn out to be just another day. "Come on John, let's go set the table," she said with a wistful smile as she headed into the kitchen to get the dishes.

John watched her go, her shoulders once again slouching forward, the bright smile she'd come downstairs with no longer on her face. He followed her into the kitchen and tapped her gently on the shoulder.

Sarah jumped for a moment and then spun around with a huge smile. She sighed as she turned and saw it was John. "Oh, you surprised me." She mentally scolded herself. Of course it wasn't the Doctor, she would have heard the TARDIS first if it had been him. "Can I do something for you, John," she said, pulling three dishes out of the cupboard.

John saw the change in her and realized what must have happened. For a moment he wished that he were the Doctor, just so that she would keep that smile on her face. "I just wanted to tell you ... you look beautiful."

Sarah Jane blushed and the smile was back on her face. She was hoping that the Doctor would feel the same way. "Thank you, John, it's very sweet of you to say that."

John saw her smile and smiled back at her, then helped her set the table.

* * *

><p>Dinner came and went, and because it was impossible to really discuss the situation without disclosing to John either the way she'd received the message, or the reason the Doctor hadn't yet returned, Sarah declared the topic of the Doctor off limits. But as dinner dragged on and no-one arrived, Sarah got quieter. After dinner John found her sitting on the swing in the backyard. "Can I join you?" he asked quietly.<p>

Sarah looked up, shook her head and smiled sadly at him. "Actually, I'm sorry John, but I think I'd like to be alone. Thank you just the same, I wouldn't be very good company right now anyway."

He nodded. "I know I don't really know much about ... well, anything," he smiled gently, "but if you do want to talk to somebody other than Harry, I'll be on the couch."

"I promise you John, when I'm up to talking, you'll be the first one besides me that knows it." 'After all,' she thought. 'At least you won't lecture me, criticize the Doctor and the way I feel about him, or tell me how I should live my life from now on, like all my well-meaning friends.' "Maybe in a few days I'll need that kind shoulder of yours. I am so very grateful to you for offering it to me. I'm sure you're a wonderful listener."

John smiled again, then headed inside.

Sarah looked up at the night sky. "Please come back to me soon," she whispered, as a tear fell slowly down her cheek.

* * *

><p>A few days passed with no sign at all of the Doctor or the Veattaran. Sarah sulked for a while, then steeled herself against the pain once more. Harry was worried about how cold she was becoming, but when he tried to talk to her about it, she gave him a look that would have withered the bravest of men. He decided to let it go until she was over this latest setback and hoped that given time, her broken heart would heal and soften again.<p>

Sarah, on the other hand, decided that instead of thinking about the Doctor, she would focus her attentions on getting John's life back for him. This way if the Doctor did come back, she could leave with him without any lose ends to worry about. And if he didn't come back... well, she decided not to think about that possibility at all. Instead, she threw herself into the task ahead.

So now Sarah was sitting with John at the hospital as they waited for their follow-up appointment with the physician the Casualty doctor had recommended. Sarah straightened his tie and the new shirt and sweater she had insisted on buying for him and he presented himself like a small child. "All right?"

She smiled warmly at him. There was something about John that just tugged at her. Maybe it was his childlike innocence and his sense of amazement with everything that presented an aura of sweetness about him. The fact that he had no memory and was completely guileless added greatly to his gentle personality as well. Whatever it was, it made him easy to get along with, and even easier to trust. "You look wonderful, John."

"Thank you," he said, fidgeting. He'd tried not to think about the fact that it was now well over a week out from his injury, and his memory still hadn't returned. "Do you think they might have some ideas today?" he asked her.

"All we can do is hope, John," she said as she patted his hand sympathetically. 'Poor John,' she thought. 'I suppose that's why I feel the way I do about him. We really have a lot in common. What a pair we are, both clinging to a small shred of hope with nothing else to hold on to.'

John and Sarah joked as they waited, trading ideas about what he might have been in his former life. Sarah suggested that he might have been a spy, and that's why no-one had come forward looking for him. John suggested that given his abysmal performance in her garden the previous weekend, he definitely had not been "Royal Gardener to the Queen." They were still laughing about that one when a nurse appeared with a chart in her hand and called for "John Doe," a confused look on her face.

"That's me," John said and stood, waiting for Sarah to join him.

"Follow me please," she told John. Then she turned to Sarah Jane. "Are you his wife," she asked.

John fumbled for a moment. "Er … she's um …" he held tightly to her hand, looking at her for an answer.

Sarah gave him a reassuring smile then addressed the nurse. "Actually, no, I'm his legal guardian. He's suffering from amnesia."

"Very well then, as long as you have the proper legal papers, you can accompany Mister Doe," the nurse said stiffly.

Sarah Jane made a silly face behind the nurse's back when she knew she wasn't looking, then winked at John playfully.

John sighed with relief and smiled back at her, then followed the nurse out of the waiting room and into an examining room, still holding Sarah's hand.

'He's just like a little boy holding onto my hand for security,' mused Sarah. She didn't see John the same way she saw any of her other friends. She knew John wasn't trying to get romantic with her, he was genuinely worried about the outcome of this medical examination. All he wanted was a friend to stand by him. She gave his hand another squeeze. She knew all too well what it was like to need someone to share your troubles with.

The door opened and a young Doctor carrying a medical chart walked in. 'Good day to you, Mister Doe. I'm Doctor Travers." He looked down at the chart and read it for a moment. "How's the head injury then? Healing alright? Let's have a look and make sure there's no sign of infection. Could you hop up on the examining table for me please?"

John climbed up on the table and leaned his head forward so that Doctor Travers could see the stitches. "They're itchy."

"Mmm, hummm," he said as he looked at the wound. "Well yes, I'm sure they must be. I do believe that I can help you with that though. Let me just get a few things and take them out for you shall we?" He headed over to a cart and pulled it close to John. Then he picked up a few cotton balls and poured some antiseptic on them. "This should just feel a bit wet and cold. I'll have those stitches out in a tic," he said as he cleaned John's cut. "Try to hold as still as possible please," he said as he reached for a pair of surgical scissors. Then he saw Sarah looking at him with concern. "You can sit over there in the corner Miss, or is it Mrs.?"

"It's Miss," answered Sarah Jane. "I'm John's legal guardian and if it's all the same to you, I'd like to stand here and hold his hand while you do that. I promise not to get in your way."

The doctor nodded at her and John took a deep breath as he pulled out the stitches, squeezing her hand tightly as each of them came out. For a moment he wondered what he would have done if she hadn't been there, then decided he didn't even want to think about it.

"There, good as new," smiled the doctor. "As soon as that patch of hair grows all the way back in, you'll never know you were injured at all. From now on, just be sure to stay away from the missus when she's got a rolling pin in her hands, heh?" He joked.

John gave a laugh, but not a hearty one. "Speaking of the missus, if there is a missus, it's been over a week and I still haven't remembered a thing."

The doctor frowned and picked up the chart again. He started flipping through the pages as he skimmed through John's medical info. "Nothing at all yet, hmmm? How are you sleeping since your injury? What sort of dreams have you been having?"

He thought about it. "I feel like I slept almost constantly for the first day or so, but now I just sort of go until I drop. I don't remember any of my dreams," he said.

"I see," said the doctor putting his hands together as if he were praying and then holding them up to his mouth, eyeing John as if he were a lab experiment. He studied him for a few moments, then picked up the charts and made some notes. "I'm going to send you to a neurologist Mr. Doe. He's one of the best in the country in fact. You're very fortunate, he used to have a very limited and exclusive practice. However, his practice has opened up considerably and I'm sure we can get you an appointment with him. His name is Dr. Linus. If anyone can help you, he can. I can't promise you anything of course, but he's had some wonderful results with cases of your type." He jotted something down and then handed Sarah Jane the note. She looked at it, there written down was Dr. Linus' phone number and address with a referral from him written on it. "Just give his office a call Miss and bring this slip with you when you go in. Make sure to tell them the hospital referred him, otherwise you'll never get an appointment."

Sarah Jane tried not to let her excitement show. This doctor had just handed her a front door invitation to the very man she had desperately been trying to find a way to see. Now she didn't need an excuse to get into his offices. All she had to do was call and get John in to see him. Then she looked over at John. His facial expression was like that of a child who knew it was this birthday and that he was about to get his heart's desire. She simply couldn't use him that way. He trusted her so and she just couldn't endanger him for the sake of a story. "I'm sorry," said Sarah. "I'm afraid I can't take John to this Doctor. Could you please recommend another one for him?"

John looked at her, confused. "But... why not? Doctor Travers says he's the best, why wouldn't we want to go see him? Of course we do … don't we? I mean ... we both want me to get my memory back, right?"


	15. Chapter 15

Sarah Jane looked at John, then at the doctor, then back at John. She knew there wasn't a single good reason that she could give either of them for not making the appointment. She shrugged and sighed at the irony of it all. "You're absolutely right, John, we want what's best for you, so I guess we will be seeing this doctor. I'll ring his office up first thing tomorrow." She was trapped and she knew it. She'd just have to make sure nothing happened to him. Even if it meant that she wouldn't get to investigate while he was being examined. At the very least she would get to meet this Dr. Linus and get a feel for what his personality was like.

The doctor smiled and shook John's hand. "Well now that that's settled. Unless you're having any other physical problems, this examination is done."

"Nope, fit as a fiddle," John smiled, jumping off the table. "Does that mean we can go home?"

"It certainly does. Have a good day the both of you. Cheery bye," the doctor said, waving as he headed out of the room. 

* * *

><p>When his office called back to set up the appointment, the nurse told Sarah Jane that because he was referred by the hospital, and due to his "special situation," Dr. Linus wanted to see John as soon as possible. His initial appointment was set up for the next day.<p>

The following morning, John was up and ready for action before Harry had even brushed his teeth. By the time Sarah had come down for breakfast, he was practically vibrating with excitement. "Good morning," he said cheerfully.

Sarah would have been worried about the appointment, but the more she thought about it, the more she was sure she could handle anything that came up. John's enthusiasm was contagious and she smiled back at him. Who knew, maybe Doctor Linus might help John. She hoped for his sake he could. "Good morning John, ready for breakfast?"

"I suppose, if we have to. I was thinking," he said hopefully, "maybe if we leave early enough, like right away, on the way we could stop at the constabulary and see if they found anything?"

"Tell you what John, if we don't have time to stop on the way there, we'll pop in on the way back." Sarah poked her head in the fridge and got out some eggs and bacon rashers. Then she saw the kippers. "Is Harry up yet? If he sleeps much longer he'll be late for work."

"He was shaving when I came down. Mumbled something about additional head injuries if I insisted on getting up so early," he smiled. "Can I help? I'm sure if we finished fast enough we'd have time to stop."

Sarah Jane laughed at him. "If I didn't know better John, I'd say you were preoccupied this morning. Why don't you go tell Harry that I'll leave his breakfast in the stove while I finish up here. We'll leave in about ten minutes if that's alright with you."

"Thanks!" he shouted, already bounding his way up the steps.

He stopped suddenly three stairs from the top and just an instant before slamming into Harry.

"I say old chap, get a grip on will you? One of us could have taken a spill just now. I don't fancy breaking my bones or yours," he grumbled. Then he sniffed the air and grew distracted. "Mmm, I hope that Sarah Jane is making toad in a hole today. Whatever she's cooking, it smells lovely."

John quietly backed down the steps, grateful for the distraction. He tiptoed over to the kitchen table and sat down without a sound.

Harry was close behind him. He plopped down at the table, looking up at Sarah Jane like a friendly basset hound waiting anxiously to be fed.

"You're running a bit late today," she teased him.

"Yes, well, it seems somebody" - he pointed at John - "was tossing and turning all night, talking gibberish, then the moment the sun even hints at rising, he's out of bed as if nothing's happened."

John looked contrite. "I did apologize for stubbing my toe on your bed."

"Of course you stubbed your toe," Harry grumbled again. "It was still bloody dark!"

"Now Harry, don't go getting all grumpy," Sarah Jane scolded him. "You know that John's excited about going to the doctor today. I don't blame him, do you? After all, if he can help John get his memory back, think what that will mean for him."

Harry looked at John sideways and smiled just a little. "I do hope it works out for you."

"Thank you, Harry," John said. Then he turned to Sarah. "Harry's got his breakfast now, can we go?"

Sarah winked at Harry. "Oh, was there somewhere you wanted to go to today John?"

John looked at her like an exasperated child. "To the constabulary to see if they found anything! We have plenty of time now before the appointment. Please …?"

Sarah Jane gulped down the last of her tea and grabbed her purse. "Right then, let's go shall we," she said as she headed towards the car. "See you later Harry, have a nice day," she called out to him. 

* * *

><p>When they arrived at the station, John seemed a bit more subdued, as though remembering the last time he'd been here. He nudged Sarah. "Could you … could you ask?"<p>

Sarah asked the officer at the desk where they might find Inspector Davis, and noticed him looking up and smiling at the sound of his name. She smiled back and waved at him, trying to look as charming as she could. He waved back and motioned her over, standing up as they approached his desk. "Hullo Officer," she said in a friendly tone.

"Miss Smith, Mister Doe so good to see you again." He shook their hands, then rifled through a few folders until he found what he was looking for. He motioned for them to have a seat. "I'm afraid we don't have any more leads on your identity," he told John, looking through a the thick stack of papers he pulled from the folder, "or even on what happened to you. I assume that's why the two of you are here, Miss Smith?"

"You assumed correctly Inspector Davis, and please, call me Sarah Jane."

Davis blushed a little. "All right, Sarah Jane. I am sorry, though; we haven't been able to find anything on you, Mr. Doe. There was no physical evidence left at the scene, and you don't match any of our existing missing persons reports. We've sent bulletins to every agency in this part of the country, but nobody's responded yet."

John tried not to look as disappointed as he felt, but a sigh escaped him before he could catch it. "I suppose it was a little much to hope for so quickly."

Inspector Clifford arrived with two cups of coffee. "Good morning to the two of you," he said, putting one cup on his desk and one on Davis's. "No word yet, I'm afraid." He looked at John's expression. "But I guess he's already told you that."

John nodded.

"You know," Clifford said, "I had a thought, and maybe you can help me with it. We've had a few stolen cars turn up since that night, maybe you want to take a look at some pictures, maybe one of them will look familiar."

John perked up again. "That would be wonderful," John said. "I'd like that, thank you."

"Come on with me," Clifford said, and, after getting Sarah's approval, led John to another table on the other side of the busy room.

"He hasn't remembered anything at all?" Davis asked.

Sarah shook her head. "Nothing at all yet. I can't believe that no one's turned in a missing person report on him. I know that somewhere some poor woman is really missing him right now. If he loves her enough to buy her a ring, she must be very worried about him." She sighed again, this time thinking about the Doctor and wondering if he didn't come back to her because something terrible happened to him. Her heart went out to the woman who should have that ring on her finger right now.

"Just because he loved her, doesn't mean she loves him," Davis said. "Maybe she's the one who cracked his skull, and that's why she hasn't come forward looking for him."

Sarah frowned at the idea of the unknown woman not only rejecting John's affection, but actually resorting to violence to get rid of him. "I hadn't thought of that possibility Inspector. It certainly bears looking into. Has anything turned up in your search for evidence?"

"I wish I had better news for you, but I'm afraid not. Nothing seems to have been left at the scene, and with the rain we had, it's impossible to tell where he was actually attacked. There are no tire tracks that indicate anybody speeding away from the scene, no dented cars parked on the street to indicate an accident or a struggle. None of your neighbors heard or saw anything until the ambulance pulled up, and nobody seems to recognize his picture. I'm afraid that after canvassing a three block radius around your place, we still didn't find anything."

Sarah pursed her lips and sighed. "If only it hadn't been raining, we might have had a lot more to go on. I suppose we'll just have to wait and hope that John's memory comes back soon. You will keep me informed won't you, officer?"

"Call me Winston," he said. "and you might check with your friends over at UNIT. Apparently before they sent over those papers they came down here and got copies of everything we had, including John's fingerprints and photo. And we have standing orders from the powers that be to share anything we find with them. You must really rate."

Sarah's eyes had a twinkle in them. "I used to work with UNIT until recently, and they've always been very kind to me."

"I'll remember not to get on your bad side," Winston smiled.

* * *

><p>John was quiet when they left the police station. He held the door open for Sarah as she got in the car, then wordlessly climbed in on the passenger side.<p>

Sarah reached out and gave his hand a squeeze. "I understand how you feel John, more than you know," she sighed. "But we musn't give up. It's far too soon for that, and we haven't tried everything we can yet."

"I just … I guess I was being silly. If they had any information they'd have called us, wouldn't they," he said. "It's just that …" he trailed off, as if deciding whether to continue. "How is it that someone can just ... disappear, and nobody notices?"

"Well, maybe you left town on business, or something like that, and you're not due back yet. Don't be so hard on yourself. It's not silly to have hope, John. No matter how frustrated you are, never give up even when things get difficult."

He smiled again, a real smile. "You're right, maybe I just haven't actually disappeared yet, and that's why nobody's looking for me." He settled into his seat. "And who knows, the hospital said that Doctor Linus is the best, maybe he can fix me, and then I won't be missing at all."

Sarah was glad she was driving and didn't have to look John in the eye. Who was she to give him advice? She had been feeling that things were hopeless for weeks now. Then again, she knew who she was and what had happened to her. She had been cut off from the life she had come to know and love with less than an hour's notice.

John sat quietly and looked out the window as they drove. He'd written down directions from the police station to the doctor's office, and now he was following along as they drove, memorizing landmarks, as he'd been doing every time they went out, as a hedge against getting lost.

A few minutes later, they arrived, and he'd recovered most of his bounce, practically jumping out of the car and bounding around to open her door for her. "Ready?"

"Yes," she laughed. "But not as ready as you are."

He smiled and held out an elbow for her.

Taking it, she walked into the building with him. In a few moments, they were standing in front of the receptionist's desk. "Good morning," Sarah smiled. "I'm here with John Doe. I'm his legal guardian and he has a ten thirty appointment."

"Of course," the receptionist said, "Mister Doe, we've been expecting you." The heavyset woman smiled as she handed Sarah a clipboard with a stack of papers. "I know you don't have a lot of information, but if you can do the best that you can, especially when it comes to any current symptoms, then bring the information back here, that would be lovely."

John followed her back to a seat and looked over her shoulder as she filled out the form, pointing to the few symptoms - occasional headache, trouble sleeping - that he seemed to be having. Then, with her approval, he handed the clipboard back to the receptionist, who thanked him. He came back to sit with Sarah, but every few seconds he would jump up and pace a little.

"Have you got something against that carpet John," she asked as he got up and paced for the sixth time.

"No," he said impatiently, "but why do they tell you ten-thirty and then when you come at ten-thirty they're not ready for you?"

"Because lots of other patients don't come on time," a nurse said from the doorway, "or they take more time than we expect. John?"


	16. Chapter 16

John nodded enthusiastically and absently grabbed Sarah's hand, following her back to the examination room.

Sarah Jane was used to his child-like behavior by now and just went along with it. She held his hand and walked into the examining room with him. She looked about the room even though she didn't really expect to see anything out of place. Perhaps the doctor would be over confident and say something to slip himself up, but that was a lot to hope for. For the time being, she'd just be very alert and keep a good watch on John. She was sure this would just be a routine exam and nothing untoward would happen because John obviously wasn't alone.

"All right, then, young man," the nurse said, "you hop right up here and let me take your blood pressure."

John did as he was told, but as she took his pulse, he apologized. "I'm a bit excited. My heart doesn't always race like this. But the hospital said that Doctor Linus was the best, you see, and I really want to get my memory back."

"Try taking a few deep breaths and relaxing for a minute or so and I'll take it again," the nurse said, "I'm sure that if anyone can help you, Doctor Linus can." The nurse took his temperature and weighed him and measured his height. "Now let's see if you've relaxed enough yet." She put the BP cuff on him again and frowned after a few minutes. She looked over at him and saw the eagerness on his face. She shook her head and gave up trying to take his blood pressure. "Tell you what, you just keep trying to relax, and the Doctor will be in in a few minutes." She smiled at him, then gave Sarah a sympathetic smile.

John stayed up on the table, but he just couldn't sit still. He kicked his legs, banging them against the table until he caught a look from Sarah. "Sorry," he said, then swung them more quietly, just tapping instead of banging.

Before she could say any more, the door opened and a tall, well dressed man wearing a lab coat entered. "Good morning," he said to both of them, "I'm Doctor Linus." He shook John's hand, then Sarah's. "I understand you're Mister Doe's legal guardian?"

Sarah Jane hoped that he didn't see her suck in her breath in surprise. Doctor Linus had incredibly good looks and an air of confidence about him that would defy any one to disagree with him. She had been expecting a much older and crustier man. "Uhm, yes. That's correct Doctor."

"Wonderful," he smiled. "Then I trust you have all the appropriate paperwork for consent, so we can treat him. I've been reading over your case, John," he said, turning back to him, "and I think we can help you."

John bounced a little. "Really?"

"Well, we'll need to do a few tests first, of course, but things look good. As long as we've got all of our ducks in a row." He turned back to Sarah. "I'm sorry to be a stickler, but with these cases we need to make sure that every one's being cared for appropriately, and that means paperwork."

"Oh, that's quite alright Doctor Linus. I understand that you need to make sure that every thing's in order before you can proceed," she said handing him the guardianship papers. "You may copy those if you like so you have them on file."

"Thank you." He stuck his head out the door and asked a nurse to photocopy the papers and bring them back. "Now, on to the important business." He turned to John. "I understand that you have suffered some memory loss."

"That's right," he said. "I can't remember anything before I met Sarah."

He started to examine John's scalp. "The file says that he suffered a head injury Miss Smith. I can see where his hair's still growing back in. Can you give me any more details of the accident?"

"Unfortunately no. He just showed up on my doorstep with a head wound. It was raining so hard at the time that there weren't any clues as to where he'd come from. He doesn't have any memory of anything that happened to him before that."

"How about since then? Any difficulty remembering things?"

Sarah felt that it wasn't her place to answer that question. She turned to John instead. "I think you can answer that for yourself."

"Um … no," John said, "the noggin seems to be working fine now, it's just mostly empty," he smiled.

"No confusion or difficulty concentrating?"

John shook his head.

"Well, that's good, so let's have a better look at you." Doctor Linus gave him a thorough going over, listening to his heart, his lungs, even the arteries in his neck. He examined his now-healing wound, commenting on how good it looked, then pulled a set of X-ray films out of a large envelope and placed them on the light board. "The nice thing about knowing you're coming is that we can get your films sent over," he smiled at John. He stared at the films for a minute or two, the continued.

After asking John to follow his finger with his eyes, squeeze his hands, and even stand on one foot, then the other, he asked him to sit back down, then flipped through a thick stack of papers that had also been sent over from the hospital.

"Well," he finally said, "the good news is that there's nothing obvious wrong with you."

"Then why can't I remember anything?" John blurted out. "That's not normal, is it?"

"Well, John," he said. "There's any number of possible reasons, but the good news is that just because there are no obvious answers now, that doesn't mean we can't find the right one. We just have to look a little harder." He turned to Sarah. "I'd like to run a few tests. There are some blood panels I'd like to have done, as well as a rather specialized scan we have here in the office."

"As long as I can stay with him through everything, that's fine with me. Are you all right with this John?"

"I just want to get better," he said.

"Well, of course you can stay with him as much as possible, except during the actual scan. We can protect the patient from excess radiation, but otherwise the room has to be empty."

"Radiation?" John asked nervously.

"It's all right," Doctor Linus reassured him. "The radiation is actually a byproduct of the scan, so it goes everywhere but into your head. We'll protect the rest of your body with lead shielding."

John nodded slowly.

"I'm afraid Doctor Linus that I can't allow John out of my sight," said Sarah Jane firmly. "If you need me to be outside of the room, that's fine, but I have to be where I can see him at all times."

Doctor Linus looked at her quizzically. "Well, of course, as I said, you can stay with him until the actual scan, but I'm afraid that for safety reasons, there aren't any windows into the room. But you're welcome to come and see it, if that will help and of course, the lab tech will be just outside the room if you're afraid he's going to wander off."

"Oh, I'm not worried about what John might do Doctor, it just that I take my guardianship of him very seriously, and I feel responsible for him at all times, so I like to keep a close eye on him."

"Good, that's good to know, but I assure you he'll be perfectly safe for the short time it takes to complete the test."

Sarah looked over at John. He didn't seem to be too concerned. "Could you be so kind as to tell me how long that particular test will take?"

"Once we get him situated it will be about forty minutes."

Sarah turned to John. "How do you feel about all this?"

John was still eager and hopeful. "I say we do it," said as if it were completely obvious.

Sarah Jane was still hesitant. "Do you mind being alone for forty minutes?"

"Well, you're not going to run off to Peru or anything are you?" He smiled, then looked worried. "You will still be here when the test is done won't you?"

"Yes of course, but," she turned to Dr. Linus. "The test isn't painful is it?"

He smiled reassuringly. "It's not even unpleasant. The room is so peaceful, some people even fall asleep while the test is being done."

John looked at Sarah pleadingly.

Sarah sighed. "I guess it's settled then."

Would you like to have a look at the room?" He held his arm out to her.

Sarah took it and smiled as sweetly as she could at him. While she was still very far from trusting him, she wanted to make sure she got on his best side. If she couldn't keep an eye on John, then she'd make sure she didn't let Dr. Linus out of her sight. "I'd love to see it Doctor. Thank you so much for being so kind. You know, have such a fascinating career. I really wish I could see you whole office. Of course, I realize that you're much to busy to give me a tour of it."

He smiled back at her. "Well, maybe once you've settled John in I could give you a tour."

Sarah turned back to John. "What do you think, would that be all right with you?"

John had been watching the two of them trying to figure out what was going on. Sarah was always nice, but he was pretty sure he'd seen that same look on her face when she'd been trying to sweet-talk the constables into giving her her way. Well, surely she knew what she was doing. "Of course, I'm sure it'd be fine. I'll just be lying around anyway, won't I?"

Doctor Linus chuckled. "I suppose you will." He led them down the hall, corralling a nurse and letting her know what kinds of scans he wanted.

"This is so exciting Doctor Linus," said Sarah Jane. "You really must explain everything you do here to me, I'm so anxious to learn about every aspect of your work. You have such a wonderful reputation you know, and I feel so honored right now."

Linus smiled, and guided them down the hallway to a set of double doors, pushing one side open. "This is our scanning room."

John looked at the other door, then pushed it open, then closed. "Heavy. Lead lined?"

"Of course. As I said, this process generates a good bit of radiation." He continued on to the large machine in the center of the room. "And this is the scanner," he told John.

John approached the large white machine curiously, looking first at what appeared to be the patient table, with what looked like lead curtains hanging off the side of it. "This is where I go?" he asked.

"That's right, with lead shielding from your neck to your toes to protect you."

John then turned his gaze on the scanner itself, meter-high arc of metal with what looked like diodes and emitters pointed at the patient table. "What … er … what are you measuring, exactly?" He started to run his hand over the surface, but Linus stepped in.

"If you wouldn't mind, it's very carefully calibrated, so if you could, just look, but don't touch."

"Oh, you needn't worry about John harming anything Doctor," Sarah said reassuringly. "As far as I can tell, there's nothing mechanical that he can't improve or fix if he tinkers with it long enough. I suspect that he used to be the Royal Fix it Man to the Queen," she winked at John.

John smiled at her. "Although I'm either not very good, or she doesn't need much fixed," he laughed.

"Oh, I doubt that," Linus said. "Now if you'll just hop up here," he said, motioning to a technician, "we'll get you all set up." He turned to Sarah. "One of the advantages of having our own equipment is that our patients don't have to go elsewhere and we get the results faster."

"That's so considerate of you to think of the patients that way, and quite progressive I might add. You know, I think I'd like to write a feature on you Doctor Linus. If you're open to the idea that is," Sarah Jane almost purred at him.

"Well, Miss Smith, I don't know if our technology is quite ready for that, but perhaps we can discuss it while the scan is running."

Meanwhile, the technician maneuvered John onto the table, and he looked over to Sarah for feedback.

Sarah walked over to John and smiled confidently at him. "You're going to be just fine John, and I promise I'll be right back here waiting for you when the test is done." She gave him a pat on the shoulder and turned back to Doctor Linus. "Shall we proceed then?"

"Absolutely," Linus said, and motioned for her to follow him. "We'll see you in about 40 minutes," he told John, and they left.

John watched them go, then gave an uneasy smile to the technician. "Ready, I guess."

"All right then," she said, helping him get comfortable on the table. "My name is Lisa, and I'll be running your test today. If you have any questions, you just go ahead and ask." She positioned his arms at his sides, then laid the lead-lined blanked over him, wrapping it around the bottom of the table and back around him again, like a giant papoose. Finally she adjusted the edges and fastened several straps in place.

John wriggled a little, but he wasn't going anywhere. "This is a bit … er … much, isn't it?"

Lisa patted his shoulder. "This table's going to move a bit, so we need to make sure you don't fall off. Especially," she said, "when we turn you face down."

That made sense to him, so he laid back and relaxed a little. "Er... my feet?"

"I'm afraid, that you're just a little too tall," Lisa said, "so your feet are going to stick out the bottom, but you'll be fine," she smiled. "The relative dose to just your feet will be at a safe level."

"OK then," he said. "Ready when you are."

"Well, not quite. Almost. Since we're scanning your head, we need to make sure you don't move it." She pulled out a wire frame. "You're not claustrophobic, are you?"

"I don't think so," he said warily.

"Well, we're about to find out," she said kindly. "Let me know if you get nervous." She positioned the frame so that it held his head in place. "All right?"

He tried to nod, but the frame was doing its job. "I suppose so."

"All right, then, now we're ready to find out what's going on in that head of yours."

John stared at the ceiling and listened to Lisa's shoes squeak to a corner of the room. Then he heard a heavy door close, and the scanner began to hum.

He listened to the scanner, staring up into it and trying to work out what each part did, idly wondering why he smelled strawberries.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Sarah Jane was touring the facility with Doctor Linus.<p>

"I'm simply amazed at all the work you've put into this place Doctor. Did you really plan out and oversee it's entire creation from start to finish?"

"Yes, I've been working on this project for a number of years. It's always been my passion to help those who really need it."

"I can't tell you how refreshing it is to meet someone like you. Most doctors these days don't seem to care about anything but how well their business is doing. It's wonderful to hear how dedicated you are to your patients and how you go out of your way to make sure their welfare comes first in your practice. Oh do say you'll let me do a story on you. It would only take a few days and I promise not to interfere with your work."

"Well, as I said, while I have complete confidence in the safety of our technology, I'm not sure that we're quite ready for public scrutiny. You see, our technology is still quite new, and we haven't even published in the medical journals."

"Actually," Sarah said enthusiastically. "I wasn't planning on putting too much emphasis on the technology. I know it's important, but what I'd really like to stress is the care your patients get and how multi-talented you are. You designed your own clinic, you personally attend to each patient's needs. You oversee every aspect so efficiently. You really have raised the bar in doctor patient relationships and I think the world should know about it. Perhaps it would convince other doctors to follow your good example."

"You're very kind, Miss Smith. I suppose we could work something out."

* * *

><p>It was a gradual thing, but over several minutes, John became aware of four things:<p>

Number one, he was face down, suspended from the table by the lead blanket. He remembered Lisa saying something about that, so that was all right.

Number two, something was going on with his feet. They would alternately flex and relax, as though something else were controlling them. That was mildly disturbing, but somehow he couldn't seem to get worked up about it. Which led him to …

Number three, he wasn't quite awake. The strawberry smell, he decided, had been some sort of sedative, which explained...

Number four, his eyes were closed. He could tell his eyes were closed, because things weren't quite black, like they'd be in a dark room, but he still couldn't see anything.

Actually, that wasn't strictly true. Every few seconds, he'd see a flash of light in one eye or the other, as though a high energy particle had passed through them, exciting the fluid and creating a streak for just a moment.

He watched the light show for a minute or two, listening to the hum of the scanner and idly thinking about his feet, then decided he didn't like the flashing and opened his eyes.

That's when he began to scream.


	17. Chapter 17

Sarah heard John and ran back to the room where they'd left him. She didn't bother to find out if Doctor Linus was behind her or not. When she got to the room, he was still screaming and the door was locked. She pounded on it furiously as she screamed at the technician behind the door. "Stop whatever you're doing at once. Do you hear me." she said as she kept pounding.

Doctor Linus, who'd been right behind her, picked up a phone on the wall. "Stop the test and open the door," he said.

A moment later there was a hollow "pock" noise and the doors opened under Sarah's weight. John was still screaming, and still wrapped in the lead blanket, but he was face-up now, and Lisa was trying to calm him down.

"What have you done to him," Sarah Jane demanded as she rushed to his side. She glared viciously at the woman named Lisa. "If you've hurt him in any way, I promise you, you'll regret it." She turned to John and started undoing the straps that were holding him down. "What happened John? Can you tell me? I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have left you for even a second."

John stared at her for a moment, eyes wide as saucers, and caught his breath. He looked around for a moment, then sat up as soon as he was freed from the leaden wrappings. He looked at Lisa, and at Doctor Linus, then back at Sarah. "I … I think I've just remembered that I'm claustrophobic."

Sarah Jane let her breath out. "Oh John, you gave me such a scare." She looked up, Doctor Linus and his lab tech were both staring at her as if she had three heads and the middle one was on fire. "I really do apologize for panicking. I feel like such an idiot. You both must think I'm insane for overreacting like that. I honestly don't have any excuse other than, in my work, I'm used to dealing with life threatening situations quite a lot. I'm really so sorry and so embarrassed. Can you please forgive me?"

"Of course," Doctor Linus said. "There's nothing to forgive. You're just taking care of your friend, the same as we are." He took a deep breath. "In fact, Miss Smith, if you'd like, I'd be happy to schedule a time for you to come in and do your story."

"Oh, you're so kind. How can I ever thank you, Doctor Linus?" Sarah really was blushing at this point.

"There's no need." He put a hand on John's shoulder. "Do you think you can walk, or should we get you a wheelchair? Some of our patients are quite wobbly after this test."

John was still a bit wide-eyed. "I can walk." He stood and swayed for a moment, then his feet decided to behave. He turned to Sarah. "Please, take me home."

"Of course John," Sarah answered him, then turned to the Doctor. "Would it be alright if I gave you my card? You can call me and set up that appointment for the interview when ever it's best for you."

"Certainly," Linus said. "I'll have someone give you a call in the morning, so you have some time to get John settled in at home."

* * *

><p>John didn't say much as they exited the office and headed back to the car. Instead, he just looked worried. "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you," he said as Sarah opened the door.<p>

"It's alright, John. Don't worry about it. As long as you're really alright, I have no worries." She eyed him for a moment, something wasn't right. "You are sure that you're alright, aren't you John?"

"Um … yeah, I'm …" He gave a mighty yawn as he got in the car. "I'm …" He started to snore.

Sarah Jane let out a loud laugh. "You'll have to do better than that John. You might as well know for now and the future, I'm very hard to fool."

John kept snoring.

"Very funny, you just keep snoring till we get home, but once you're out of the car and back in the house, we are going to have a nice long talk, Mister Doe."

He was still snoring softly when they arrived back at Sarah's house and she parked the car.

"Wakey wakey John," said Sarah Jane as she nudged him. "If you think you're getting away with anything now that we're home, best think again."

John startled. "Don't touch me!" he screamed, fighting her off for a moment. Then he looked at her as if he realized where he was. "I'm … I'm so sorry."

She put a hand out to steady him. "Good heavens, you really were asleep weren't you? I'm sorry I startled you. I thought you were only pretending to snore so loud as a sort of joke."

He shook his head, his eyes once again wide. "Can we … go inside?"

"Certainly, are you alright? It seems as if you have a really bad dream just now."

He looked at her for a moment as if deciding what to say. "If we could just go inside."

Sarah nodded and walked into the house. "You just sit on the couch and I'll make us some tea. Once you feel up to it, we can talk."

John collapsed on the couch and sat while she put the kettle on. When she came back, he looked up at her with a very serious expression. "You're going to think I'm mad."

"Try me, you may be very surprised. I'm usually very opened minded about the sort of things that most people would consider utterly mad."

He looked hard at her for a moment. "Aliens."

If she hadn't been afraid of hurting his feelings, the irony of his statement would have made her laugh right in his face. "What kind of aliens, John, there are quite a few races of them you know."

"No," he said seriously. "Real aliens. Not like in your books. Real, live, aliens. Running around in that... that …" He motioned in the general direction of the outside. "Aliens were running that scanner. I saw them."

Sarah Jane stiffened. Her problem wasn't that she thought John was insane, it was that she really did believe him. She thought about what to tell John about herself and how much. She looked into his eyes. Along with the fear, she saw how much he needed her to believe him. She sat closer to him, reached out her hand and waited for him to take it. "Just what did these aliens look like John?"

He took her hand gently, waiting to see what her reaction was going to be. "Well, they were kind of like … I don't know kind of like big bugs, about half a meter high. Kind of brown and shiny. Sort of like a cross between a centipede and a really nasty ant. Only they walked upright on three pairs of legs."

She'd have to be honest with him in order to get him to believe what she was about to say. She looked him straight in the eye. "I really do believe you, John. I'd like to tell you something too, but I need you to not only believe me, but to promise me that you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. Above all, I'm going to ask you to trust me completely, no matter what I say to you."

He nodded slowly.

"I not only believe in aliens, I understand a great deal about them. I have been not only in contact with alien life forms, I traveled through time and space with an alien for several years before I came back here to South Croyden."

He thought about that for a moment. "Your books... The Doctor's not in Africa, is he."


	18. Chapter 18

Sarah Jane debated about how much to tell John about the Doctor. On the one hand, she didn't know him very well, so just how much information could she trust him with? On the other hand, he didn't have any preconceived notions about the Doctor the way most of her friends did. She knew John wasn't likely to be judgemental and that made her want to tell him everything. She looked into his eyes. He was smiling at her expectantly. No matter what she told him, she was sure he'd believe her, and be sympathetic as well.

She drew in her breath and then sighed. "No, he's lives in his time and space machine, and I don't even know where he is right now. He got called back to his home planet and he couldn't take me with him."

John chewed on that for a few moments. "And that's why you were expecting him back, and why you're worried that he hasn't shown up yet."

Sarah Jane nodded. "He has a habit of replacing one companion with another. What's really worrying me is that he isn't coming back. If he really wanted to, he could have returned for me right after he left," She choked back a sob.

He held his arms out to her and gathered her in to him. "You don't know that. There could be a really good reason he couldn't come back to that spot."

Sarah let him comfort her. "No, I know now that he knew it before he opened the TARDIS door for me. I should have realized it. He wouldn't look at me, wouldn't even give me so much as a goodbye hug. He knew then that he wasn't coming back. He's always hated goodbyes and he just wanted to get it over with." Her voice grew hard. "He's already got another companion and I don't even exist anymore as far as he's concerned," she said, sitting up straight and angrily wiping her eyes.

"You don't know that," John repeated softly. "If I were him, and I had to let you go, I wouldn't be able to give you a hug either." He looked away, blushing.

Sarah was amazed at the way John seemed to be taking the Doctor's side in all this. Up until now, everyone had berated the Doctor and pitied her.

She had tried to be fair and consider the Doctor's perspective on all this, but she had to admit, until this moment, she hadn't had a clue about what was going on in his mind. Perhaps she still didn't know, but John had given her exactly what she needed. He had given the Doctor a voice, and maybe, just maybe, he was right.

She drew herself up and considered what to say. She wasn't going to feel sorry for herself anymore if she could help it, but she did want to express the rest of her concerns to John. Maybe he could come up with a reasonable excuse for the Doctor's absence.

"He's an alien John. My biggest mistake was that I forgot that. I forgot that he isn't a human. I shouldn't have expected him to react like one. You see, he cares about and respects every one as individuals, but he doesn't hold one individual dearer than any other."

Sarah sighed loudly. She could see that John didn't really understand. She decided to try another way to explain. "Look, he has a time machine, he could be thousands of years away from here, it may be centuries since the last time I saw him. He most likely doesn't even think of or even remember me now." She wasn't sure if she were trying to convince John or herself. Inwardly, she berated herself for being a fool. "It doesn't matter anymore anyway, I'm sure that I'll never see him again."

John looked her in the eye with an intensity that she hadn't seen from him before. "You don't know that. It may just be that he can't come back right here, right now. You know you can't cross your own timeline," he said, as though the smallest child would know that. "Maybe something happened while he was gone, and now he can only come back to your future."

"My future," Sarah laughed coldly. "It's up to me to decide my future. I can't just sit around waiting for someone who's forgotten about me ages ago. He's never coming back, and it's time I started facing that."

"You don't believe that," John said simply.

"Oh yes I do. I have to. It's sadistic to expect me to sit around pining for him. Why should I throw my life away for anyone?" She was venting now, and it felt good. "Look around us John, do you see him anywhere? When you saw those aliens in the doctor's lab, did you by any chance see one that was six foot four, with sapphire blue eyes and a big toothy grin?"

He watched her, shaking his head slowly. "No, I didn't. But that doesn't mean he's not coming back. I'm not trying to be sadistic, and I don't want you to be unhappy, but from the way that you've talked about him I just … I can't see -"

"You don't know him," she interjected. "He can use you and then dispose of you as if you were an empty soda bottle, or an old tissue." She stood up and started pacing in front of him. "He's horrible, a total monster. He doesn't listen to a word you say to him. He's easily the most exasperating man you could ever meet."

John watched her as she started waving her arms about, becoming more and more animated. He realized that he was in the middle of one of those "Sarah Jane tirades" Harry had told him about, and hoped that he could find the right thing to say, the right thing to do to help her feel better.

"He thinks you should hang on to his every word. He thinks you should understand anything he says, even when he's talking pure gibberish," she continued. "He is thoughtless, inconsiderate, egotistical, maddening, and heartless!"

She threw down her arms in defeat. "And I love him so much I can't stand it," she sobbed, helplessly letting go. "I hate myself for feeling the way I do about him. I'm an idiot."

Tentatively, he once again took her in his arms, quietly rubbing his hand up and down her back. "It's all right, let it out."

John guided her back to the couch and she did, crying her heart out. Then, after almost an hour of tears, shouting and heartbreak, she was exhausted. John was soaking wet, but didn't seem to mind.

Once she regained a bit of her composure, she looked up at him and cried out in surprise. "Oh John, I've flooded you, you poor dear man. I'm so sorry," she half laughed, half cried.

Before John could say a word, the door opened, and Harry walked in. "Hello, all, I'm -" He took in the scene before him. "I say," he said, "what's going on here?" He looked angrily at John.

Sarah Jane looked up. John's arms were still around her and she was hugging him. She pulled her arms away and sat up. "I got upset and John was just comforting me, Harry."

John sat back from her on the couch, unsure of what to do.

"Upset about what?" Harry asked.

Sarah stood up. "I really don't want to discuss it anymore. I'm going upstairs to wash up." She turned and fled up the steps.

Harry watched her and as soon as he was sure she couldn't hear them, he turned to John. "Right then, was she going on about the Doctor?"

John nodded. "Er, yes. I suppose."

Harry slammed his fist into his palm. "I knew it. I swear, if the Doctor ever does come back, I'll jolly well give him what for. How he could hurt someone like her when everyone knew how much she loves him is beyond me. She's too good for him and she's turned down everyone else."

"Harry," John said tentatively, "what if it's not his fault?"

"What do you mean, not his fault? She went off with him didn't she? That's makes him responsible for her. We all saw it, all he had to do was give her one of those sad puppy eyed looks of his and a big grin, and she'd go along with anything he wanted. Trust me John, he knew he was giving her false hope. Promise me that if you see him around, just you let me know and I'll give his bally head a knock he won't soon forget. The Brig and a few others would love a bash at him too."

John just nodded. He could see that Harry's mind was made up. Besides, it was all just theory. He had other things on his mind, anyway. "Harry," he said, "you traveled with the Doctor too, didn't you?"

"Not for very long, but yes, I did. Long enough to to watch him toy with her affections. I would have said something then, but at the time, we all thought he cared for her as much as she did for him."

"I get all that, but I was actually interested in the … er … in the aliens."

"Aliens?" Harry was puzzled. "What do you know about aliens?" he asked guardedly.

"Well..." John started, standing and beginning to pace. He told himself that Harry had seen aliens, and he wouldn't think he was mad. "I know I saw some of them this morning," John said. "And Sarah admitted that the Doctor is one and that she's seen them too, so I assume that you have as well."

"Where did you see aliens?"

"Never mind about that Harry," said Sarah Jane as she came down the steps. She appeared to be cleaner and more composed than she had been when she ran out of the room a few moments ago. "John had some tests and he was hallucinating."

She crossed the room, stepping between the two men. "I'm sorry that I drenched you John. It won't happen again." Then she tugged on his shirt and gave him a wink. "You really do need to go and change your shirt."

John was confused, but nodded and headed upstairs.

Harry looked at Sarah. "Hallucinations?"

She nodded. "They must have given him some sort of medication before they started the tests. I'm sorry about the tears Harry. It won't happen again," she said, tilting her head playfully and smiling at him. "I'll tell you what, just to make it up to you, I'll make you anything you like for dinner. What do you fancy, Doctor Sullivan?"

"I fancy the truth," Harry said, sitting down in a chair and folding his arms across his chest, almost as a challenge. "He says you told him the Doctor's an alien."

"Well, after his hallucinations, he asked me if I believed in aliens and things just escalated from there." She started towards the kitchen. "I'm making dinner now, and that offer still stands."

"So you expect me to believe that you told him the Doctor is an alien, and that you have traveled through space and time, but after convincing yourself that something is amiss with this Doctor Linus, you also expect me to believe that when John comes back and tells you that he's seen aliens, you don't believe him? Come now, old girl, do you really think I'm that dim?"

Sarah's eyes twinkled mischievously at him. "Who said I thought you were dim?"

"Then you don't really believe it's drug induced."

"Actually, I'm quite glad you brought that up, Harry, because I was planning to talk to you about it after John had gone to bed. Do you know anything about a test that involves being wrapped up in a lead blanket and strapped down to a table?"

"What?" Harry looked at her strangely. "Wrapped up in a... what are you talking about? Is that what Linus was doing?"

"That's exactly what he was doing. I was told I couldn't stay in the room with him during the test, so when Dr. Linus asked if I'd like to go for a quick look around, I agreed. Before we got back, John was screaming in fear. When I asked him in front of Linus and his tech what was wrong, he said he had just realized that he was claustrophobic. I got him out to the car and he started snoring in mid-sentence. He didn't wake up till we got back here. When I went to wake him, he started screaming 'don't touch me'. What do you make of it Harry?"

Harry thought about it for a moment. "I'm not sure." He called up the steps. "John, could you come down here for a moment?"

John appeared at the top of the steps, then sheepishly came down. "Yes?"

"Sit down, I want to have a look at you." After finding John on Sarah's doorstep, Harry had gotten into the habit of keeping his medical bag with him at all times, and he retrieved a few instruments with practiced ease. He examined John briefly, making sure to check his reflexes.

"John," he finally said, "when they were giving you that test, did they give you any medications, like a sedative, or anaesthesia?"

John shook his head. "They didn't give me any needles or anything."

Harry nodded and turned to Sarah. "His reflexes are still a little slow."

"There were the strawberries," John added.

"Strawberries?"

"Yes, right before I fell asleep I smelled strawberries."

Harry nodded. "I suppose it could have been a sedative. If they'd planned for him to be out for longer than he was, it makes sense that he'd have slept on the way home." He turned back to John. "How do you feel now?"

"A bit tired. Like I could sleep a bit more."

"You know John, that's not a bad idea," said Sarah Jane. "Why don't you go take a bit of a nap till dinner's done? I'll send Harry up to get you when it's time to eat."

He looked at both of them. "I'll be happy to take a nap, as long as somebody answers one question for me."

"What's that, John?" Harry asked.

"Did I see aliens or not?"


	19. Chapter 19

Harry turned to Sarah as if to say, "Well?"

Sarah Jane put her hands in her pockets and shrugged. "Anything's possible John, so I'd say it's a definite maybe. I will promise you, though, that I am going to seriously look into it and find out."

Harry rolled his eyes. It had been some time since he'd had to deal directly with aliens, but if that was what it took to keep Sarah safe, he wasn't going to let her go off on her own. "You mean that **we **are going to look into it and find out."

"Harry," Sarah Jane gave him a warning look, then decided not to argue with him in front of John. She shrugged sweetly at Harry. "Anything you say Double Oh Oh Seven."

Harry shrugged sweetly back at her. "Good then. How about dinner?"

* * *

><p>Dinner was awkward. John was curious to hear more about Sarah and Harry's adventures in time and space, but after Sarah had broken down, he didn't want to bring it up. Sarah was irritated at Harry for implying that she needed to get UNIT involved in her investigation of Dr. Linus. Harry was concerned that Sarah was going to go off on her own.<p>

And it seemed that he was right. After he and John had gone off to bed, he'd snuck back down and out the back door, and when Sarah snuck out the front door to her car, he was waiting for her in the driveway.

"Look Harry," said Sarah Jane when she saw him standing there with his arms crossed. "We've been all over this several times now since I got back from traveling with the Doctor. I do not need your help," she said emphatically. "I vant to vork alone," she glared, imitating Greta Garbo.

Harry moved between her and her car and slammed the driver's door shut. "I am telling you for the last time, you are not breaking into Linus' office tonight without some sort of backup. And I don't care how angry at me you get."

"Harry," Sarah drew his name out.

"Sarah," he said, imitating her. "I'm serious. This is more than just a story, and you know it. You have to get UNIT involved in this. And if you don't, I will." He looked hard at her, waiting for her reaction.

"I don't need UNIT, I don't need you, and for the absolute last time, I don't need anyone. I can take care of myself." She folded her arms and glared at him.

Harry saw her withering gaze and softened his own. "Yes, you can take care of yourself. But I know this isn't about that." He took her gently by the arms. "You don't need to prove yourself to anyone. Not to me, not to the Brigadier, and certainly not to **him**. But you do need to keep safe, and I can't let you just walk into this kind of potential danger without support. I care too much about you to let that happen."

Sarah uncrossed her arms and her shoulders slumped. She put her head down to hide her face. "You win, Harry," she whispered with defeat. "I promise I'll tell the Brig about it."

There was a moment of silence.

Harry didn't budge.

He knew her too well.

"Well?" Sarah said impatiently.

"Well," Harry said calmly, "I'm waiting for you to go into the house and call him."

"You're a Doctor, Harry, not a policeman. Look, I said I'd tell him, so let me go." Sarah stared him down, trying not to shake. Why couldn't people just leave her alone? Her life was already a total mess, she didn't need everyone and their uncle butting their nose into things. If Harry didn't back off soon, she wouldn't be responsible for her actions when she flattened him with a little Venusian Aikido.

"And I'm sure you mean it when you say you'll tell him," Harry continued, but not quite as calmly as before, "but telling him about it after the fact doesn't do much good. I know you, Sarah Jane Smith, and if you want me to move from this car door, you'll march yourself right into the house and call him now, before you go."

"What gives you the right to think you can bully me this way, Doctor Sullivan? You have no jurisdiction over me what-so-ever. Now are you going to move or do I have to call the authorities?"

Harry was sure that she didn't hear the shrill tone that had crept into her voice, or the tiny vibrato behind it that hinted at tears barely held in check. "Sarah, all other things aside, you are working yourself too hard, and you've got to stop. Would you just listen to yourself? You're an emotional wreck."

"I've got a better idea, why don't **you** listen to **me**? Of course I'm an emotional wreck, and do you want to know why? It's because I have had just about enough of well-meaning friends, nosey gossiping neighbors and all sorts of free advice on how to feel and how I should be living my life." Her fists were clenched as she drew herself up defensively. "Now either you get out of my way, or I swear I won't be responsible for what happens next!"

As Harry prepared to stand his ground, John stepped out of the door, still looking a little groggy. He rubbed his eyes as he tried to see them in the dark driveway. "I heard shouting," he said. "Is everything all right?"

"It will be in a moment," Harry said, still staring down Sarah.

"Go back into the house, John," said Sarah trying to sound calm. "Everything is fine."

"It doesn't look fine," John said warily as he came down the walk, still in his pyjamas. His bare feet shivered against the cold concrete. "It looks like the two of you were arguing about something. And what are you doing out here now anyway? Are you going to Doctor Linus's office?"

"I'm not sure yet, I let you know if I go though."

John's brow furrowed. "But you can't go there by yourself. Not after..." He looked around to see if anyone could hear. "Well, _you know_," he finally said.

"See?" Harry said. "John agrees with me."

"You **were **going," John realized. He got suddenly quiet, a shudder running up his spine. "Please don't," he said simply.

Sarah didn't mind tricking Harry, and she had no trouble arguing with him, but she looked into John's eyes and knew she couldn't deceive him. No one could be that cruel. "Alright John," she sighed. "Let's just all go back into the house and get some sleep. We'll deal with this tomorrow," she said as she headed back inside.

Harry didn't know whether to be annoyed or jealous that Sarah listened to John and not to him, but either way he was grateful Sarah was safe - for now.

* * *

><p>The next morning Sarah got up and noticed that Harry was already up and gone. She smiled to herself. Her little plan of sleeping in had worked. Harry wasn't about to be late for work. The Brigadier would have his head if he was.<p>

Even though she missed her chance to investigate Linus' office unencumbered last night, she knew something Harry didn't: Dr. Linus wasn't working today, and his office would be unoccupied until tomorrow morning.

She would have left breakfast for John and been gone by now too, but she needed to talk to him first. As she was falling asleep the previous got on her way.

At the moment though, John was sitting at the table fiddling with the motor from her hoover and waiting for his breakfast.

"John," she said sweetly so he wouldn't become concerned or suspicious. "I have a few questions for you, would you mind talking to me a bit while we have breakfast?"

"Not at all," he said. "Any time."

"Thank you. What say you put that aside for now and we sit and eat?" While Sarah and John were enjoying their meal, she turned to him with a warm reassuring smile. "John, I was wondering," she said as she took a few sausages and put them on his plate. "When you saw those aliens, did you get a good look at them?"

John shuddered a little bit and took a deep breath. "Well, it's like I said -"

Just then the phone rang, and John tried not to look too relieved.

Sarah put a finger up for John to pause as she went to answer the phone. "Hullo, Sarah Jane Smith here."

"Ah, Miss Smith," said a sonorous voice. "So glad I caught you at home."

"Damn," whispered Sarah under her breath. "Brigadier," she put a smile in her voice. "What a pleasure to hear from you. What can I do for you ?"

"You can be down here in my office with that lodger of yours within the hour, thank you," the Brigadier said simply.

"Of course, I'm always happy to see you." 'Oh just wait til I get my hands on Harry,' she thought, seething. "Is something, uhm, wrong Brigadier?"

"As you have probably guessed, I have spoken to Doctor Sullivan, and the two of you are apparently in possession of information that would be of interest to UNIT. I expect you to provide that information without undue persuasion, Miss Smith."

"Yes Sir. We'll be there as soon as possible, Brigadier," she sighed with resignation. As soon as she hung up the phone, she screamed with rage.

"What's wrong?" John asked, rising from the table.

For the second time in less than twenty four hours, her fist were clenched by her side. "Just you wait until the next time I see Harry Sullivan. That busy body is really going to get a piece of my mind. He can use it too the big imbecile."

John was glad he wasn't Harry at that moment. "What did he do?"

"He got up early this morning, left the house and stabbed me in the back, that's what he did. But never you mind, I promise you, he'll pay dearly for it. When I get done with him, he'll never muck about with my life again." She stood there for a few moments plotting. "If I didn't think the Brig would get after me for it, I'd go and pack his things right now and fling them at him when we go down to UNIT." She kicked her couch, hard, wishing it were Harry. "Please go and clean up, John, the Brig wants us in his office within the hour and we don't have much time left to get there."

"Both of us?" he asked nervously, looking idly out the window.

"Yes, and I'm so sorry that you got involved in all of this." She put her hand on John's shoulder. "That loud mouth Harry went and told the Brig everything he found out about your visit to Doctor Linus. But don't worry, he's not angry at you. You're a civilian, he'll be nice enough to you. Besides, he can't really do anything about it if he wanted to, so go and get ready before he gets mad at us for being late."

John was still looking out the window. "I don't think we're going to be late," he said, pointing to the Jeep sitting at the end of Sarah's driveway.

She looked, and there sat Benton waiting patiently for them. "Oh, great," Sarah Jane exclaimed. "That means we really better get a move on. We've been summoned, John."

John didn't much like the idea of being summoned, but at that moment, it certainly beat being Harry. He headed upstairs to get ready.


	20. Chapter 20

As soon as Sarah Jane and John arrived, the Brigadier's secretary told them he was waiting for them and they could go right in. They headed towards the door but just before they went in Sarah stopped John and looked closely at him. She reached up, straightened his tie, then scrutinized him once more. "You'll do," she smiled at him.

John smiled back at her, pleased.

"Into the lion's den then?" She nodded towards the door.

"After you," he said.

She slipped her arm into his. "Oh no, together or not at all," she said, pulling him gently along with her as she knocked softly and then opened the door. "We're here, Brigadier," she announced.

"Good, good," the Brig said as they entered. "Have a seat, Miss Smith." He turned to John. "And you must be Mister Doe," he said.

"Yes, sir," John said, shaking his hand and trying not to wince at the Brigadier's vise-like grip. "Very nice to meet you, sir."

"Yes, well, I'd prefer it were under better circumstances, but there you are," he said perfunctorily. "Now then, I've been informed that you've seen some aliens quite recently."

John tried very hard to separate the Brigadier in front of him from General Lutwidge-Douglas, the leader of WIN, in Sarah's book. Either way, at least the Brigadier wasn't likely to think he was mad. "I believe so, sir, though it's difficult to know for certain." He went on to describe the creatures as well as he could, giving every detail he could think of.

The Brigadier listened politely, then nodded. "Well, that seems to mesh with our intelligence," he said. He slid a trio of photographs across his desk towards them. They showed a UNIT soldier, then a photo of him after he'd been shot, and a third photo of a red circle in a field of flesh. John stared at the last photo, trying to identify it.

"This was private Hart," the Brig continued. "A week ago, while helping investigate some strange electromagnetic readings, he complained of being stung by something. A few minutes later he began firing on his colleagues, who were unfortunately obliged to respond with deadly force. An autopsy revealed an unknown toxin at high levels in his brain, radiating from that wound on his leg."

Sarah suddenly had a thought and she panicked. "John, did anything bite you while you were being tested?"

John shook his head, wide-eyed. "I don't think so. I mean, nothing could have with all that lead..." Suddenly he started ripping off his shoes and socks and examining his feet. "My feet and my face were all that were sticking out," he said, holding the bottom of one foot up for her to inspect. "Anything?"

Sarah inspected his feet as closely as she could. She didn't see any raised skin, red marks or signs of infection. "I don't see anything John." Then she turned to the Brig. "Maybe you should have someone from UNIT give him a proper examination."

"I think it's likely that if Mister Doe here had been stung, we'd have seen more evidence of it by now, but I would certainly like to have him examined, for a variety of reasons. In the meantime, Miss Smith, I understand that you've made arrangements to investigate the office where these aliens are operating. I completely agree that you should carry out that mission."

John didn't like the sound of that, but as he finished putting his shoes on, a metal cylinder on the Brigadier's desk caught his eye. He stared at it, only half hearing Sarah's response.

"Well, I'm so glad that I have your permission, Brigadier," Sarah said sharply. "May I point out to you that I don't work for UNIT, I have never worked for UNIT, and therefore you cannot order me about? Furthermore, as a civilian freelance reporter, I am free to investigate anything I chose to. As far as John is concerned, I'm responsible for him, and I intend to stay with him the entire time he is being examined."

John realized where he'd seen that cylinder before. It looked just like the one Sarah had been holding when she'd gotten that message from the Doctor. Absently he picked it up and took a good look at it, turning it over in his hands.

"You may of course stay with him, although I don't know what you're afraid of here. But let me be perfectly clear," the Brigadier said, "while I agree that indeed you should carry on with your investigation, you will not under any circumstances be doing it on your own. I'm afraid that this is a UNIT matter now, like it or not, and you will work with UNIT as you carry it out. This is a matter of utmost importance," he said, taking the cylinder from John's hands and shaking it at Sarah like a baton.

"Whoa," John, said, jumping up and grabbing the Brig's wrist. "Careful with that!"

The Brigadier looked at him with fury in his eyes, as though years of military training were all that were keeping him from knocking John into next week. "You will remove your hands from my person, Mister Doe."

"In a moment," John said, gently extracting the cylinder from the Brig's clenched fingers. "Pardon me," he said respectfully, letting out the breath he'd been holding and carefully standing the cylinder end up on the desk. "You don't want to shake that."

The Brig raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"

"Because you'll break the seal," John said, as though it were perfectly obvious.

Sarah looked over at the cylinder for the first time. Her mouth flew open in surprise. It was an exact replica of the one the leader of the Veattarans had given her several days ago. "John," she said slowly. "Do you have any idea what's in that thing?"

"Not exactly, but it's important," he said. He picked it up and looked at it again, then twisted it slightly and a window slid back to reveal a vial of liquid. "Or at least, I think it is. This thing seems to be pretty protective, but a good hard shake like that would blow the liquid out this end," he said, pointing at the top and showing the Brigadier. "I'm guessing, but that's probably how it's dispersed."

The Brigadier thought for a moment. "We found that object during the incident that claimed Private Hart. Now if only we knew what the liquid was," he said before he turned his attention back to Sarah Jane. "But I'm afraid this changes nothing, Miss Smith. If I grant you permission to go and visit Doctor Linus you will do so with full surveillance and active support from UNIT. We have every reason to believe that this has something to do with the G7 summit in London on the seventh, so I will tolerate no rogue actors here, is that clear?"

Sarah stood with her hands on her hips and glared at the Brig, but even she wasn't bold enough to take him on. If he had been John Benton or Harry, she would not only take them on, she would win. But she knew better than to even think about getting into a battle of wills with the Brig. Besides, she needed him; he helped her out when she needed to pull strings quickly. "Oh alright, but only because it's you asking," she conceded quickly to save face. "And," she added. "Provided that you arrange it so I can cover the conference."

The Brigadier sighed. "I will do what I can. But frankly, Miss Smith, I hope that your attempts to get an interview with President Carter will be the biggest of our worries. With the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, West Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, and Canada all in one place, I can't imagine that this particular alien invasion is a coincidence."

* * *

><p>The Brigadier personally walked John and Sarah to the medical wing after calling ahead to make arrangements. He was fairly certain that John Doe hadn't been stung, but he wasn't going to pass up this opportunity to get a complete physical of the man.<p>

He hadn't yet dismissed Miss Smith's suspicions about Doe as easily as Sullivan had, but even if he had, John's immediate understanding of a device that his experts couldn't make heads or tails of would have rekindled any thoughts he had about whether or not this stranger might be the Doctor.

Which was why the Brigadier had assigned not one, but two doctors to do this examination. Both Sullivan and Doctor Henderson had treated the Doctor on various occasions, and now they had explicit instructions to find out whether this was, indeed, their missing Unpaid Scientific Advisor.

Sarah Jane smiled when she saw who the Brig had requested. She had a pretty good idea of what was on his mind. She hadn't missed his reaction when John had opened the cylinder. It was too much to hope for, but there were so many similarities and everything would be so much easier for her if only John was the Doctor.

Even though she still planned to tear into Harry when she could get him on his own, she knew that he was experienced enough with the Doctor to recognise clues that someone else might miss.

She tried not to get her hopes up, but it was no use. She was so tense right now, she could make coffee nervous.

The Brigadier stood wordlessly with Sarah Jane behind the two way mirror and watched as the doctors examined John thoroughly, Sarah turning away at strategic moments. Finally, he sat down heavily. "I know what you're thinking," he said.

"What's that," Sarah Jane asked, not realizing how defensive she sounded.

"That it's too much of a coincidence for a strange man with no memory to appear on your doorstep and suddenly show that kind of talent with extra-terrestrial objects," he said kindly.

Sarah turned her face away, holding her tears back. "And what are you thinking?"

He gently took her by the shoulders and turned her toward him, then put a finger under her chin and lifted her face. "Just because you turned me down doesn't mean I don't care about you, Sarah Jane. I happen to be thinking the same thing. I want to know whether he's the Doctor or not. At least for your sake if nothing else."

"Alistair," she said softening somewhat. "Harry said he only had one heart. He can't be the Doctor."

"I'd say that UNIT knows more about that man than anyone else on Earth, but even we don't know if a Time Lord can regenerate with a single heart. If there are any other anomalies, Sullivan and Henderson will discover them. But setting aside the current crisis for a moment, right now I'm concerned about you. The question is, what are you going to do, in either case?"

Sarah knew that this dear man she was proud to call her friend really was trying to help her. One of her many recent problems was that if she could go to him for help, would he react as a friend, a potential suitor or a soldier? What kind of speculations had he been making about her since her sudden return? Did he even have a clue as to how much she had been stressing out over her life lately? Finally she just shrugged. "What can I do? Who ever he is, I'm going to do anything I can to help him get his memory back. Either way, John needs me and I'm not going to abandon him."

The Brigadier knew she was avoiding the issue, but decided to let it go for now. She'd been hurt enough already, and it was clear that she still wasn't over any of it.

For his part, John seemed to weather the examination, even if it did seem that he'd have bolted if he hadn't already known Sullivan. In the end however, there was not a single anomaly to be found. In fact, he was almost too human.

The second the exam was done and John was getting dressed, Sarah Jane headed out from behind the two way mirror to catch Harry before he got away. He was filling out the last of the paperwork when Sarah walked into the room. Smiling coldly she drew close to him and waited for him to notice her.

Harry, meanwhile, was entirely aware that she was there, and stared intently at the forms he was filling out, steeling himself for this conversation. Finally, he took a deep breath and turned to face Sarah. "All right, let me have it," he said.

She tried not to clench her teeth. "If you don't mind Doctor Sullivan, what I have to say to you would be better said in private."

Harry wordlessly guided her to his office, then closed the door behind them and waited.

Sarah Jane stood with her arms straight at her side, her fists clenched so tightly her nails were cutting into her skin. "Give me one good reason why I should ever speak to you again after I get done telling you exactly  
>what I think of people who betray their friends and then stab them in the back?"<p>

Harry slowly took off his stethoscope, placing it carefully on the desk. He looked straight at her. "Because sometimes doing the right thing for somebody you care about means doing something they might not like."

"Oh, don't think that an excuse like that gets you off the hook. You didn't even bother to wait and see if I would call the Brig myself after I told you I would."

"As a matter of fact," Harry said, trying not to sound defensive, "I waited for the better part of the morning before checking with him to make sure you had called. It wasn't until he said you hadn't that I uttered a single word."

"I warn you Harry, I won't stand for this kind of treatment. Once and for all, you need to understand that you're my friend and nothing more. Outside of friendship, I have no other feelings for you and I never will. No matter what your feelings are, you have absolutely no right to be so overprotective and smothering towards me. This ends here and now. If you want to stay my friend, then you'd better learn to back off. If you can't promise me that, then even though it hurts to say this, I never want to see you again."

Harry didn't say anything for a moment, trying to read the expression on her face. He knew she was angry; he'd known she'd be angry before he'd opened his mouth. But he'd never heard her so … harsh. He took a deep breath and reminded himself that this was about her feelings, and not his. "Sarah, contrary to popular opinion, I am not an imbecile. I know that you're never going to love me, no matter how much I love you. I accepted that a long time ago. But that doesn't mean that we can't care about each other as friends. Everything I did, I did because I do care about you. And if you're going to ask me to stand by and watch you kill yourself, I'll tell you right now, I'm not sure that I can do that." He sighed. "But I can promise to try and be less … smothering."

Sarah Jane softened suddenly and looked deeply into Harry's eyes. She saw his sorrow and she hurt for him. "Harry, if there's one thing I learned about love and friendship when I was traveling with the Doctor, it's this: Sometimes the greatest gift you can give someone you love is to stand by and do nothing while you watch them do something that will break their hearts and yours."

Harry noticed her subconscious choice of 'hearts' over 'heart' and surrendered. If all he could do for her was be there while she crashed and burned, then that's what he was going to do. "You win. I promise."

* * *

><p>Sarah Jane smiled as she put her dish in the sink then slipped her coat on and paused at the door. "No need to get up John, you just sit, relax and finish your breakfast. I'll be back in a few hours, I have a few errands to run. Would you like me to pick up anything for you while I'm out?"<p>

John looked up from the newspaper. Once he'd figured out he could catch up on world events, he'd started devouring the morning paper, weekly magazines, anything he could get his hands on. He'd even begun memorizing local maps as a hedge against his fear of getting lost. "Nothing I can think of. Everything all right?"

"Of course, why wouldn't it be," she asked innocently.

"Oh, no reason, you just seem a bit more … intense than usual," John said.

"Not to worry John, it's just a habit of mine. I tend to throw myself into things sometimes."

"If you say so. Want me to come with you?" he said brightly.

"Thanks, but I really need some time alone right now to sort my thoughts out, sorry."

John nodded. "Have fun," he said. "I'll just stay here and tinker."

"Enjoy yourself," she waved goodbye heading out to her car. As she drove towards UNIT, she was relieved that John hadn't asked where she was going. She had about two hours to get there, get wired up and still be on time for her appointment with Doctor Linus. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but part of her was relieved to know that she was going to have backup for this investigation.

* * *

><p>She finished up with UNIT and made it to the neurologist's office with ten minutes to spare. "Hullo," she said flashing her best sweet and innocent look at the receptionist. She held out her press card. "My name's Sarah Jane Smith. I have a ten o'clock interview with Doctor Linus."<p>

"I'll let him know you're here," the disinterested woman said.

A few moments later, Doctor Linus appeared in the waiting room. "Ah, my dear Miss Smith," he said, taking her hand. "So glad to see you again."

She smiled warmly at him. "I can't tell you how pleased and honored I am that you've agreed to allow me take up some of your valuable time and to explain your theories and methods to me about your research. I'm very interested in your specialized patient care as well Dr. Linus."

"Please, call me Andrew," he smiled. "Fortunately we keep mornings fairly slow. So what would you like to see first Miss Smith?"

Sarah just kept smiling. "You can call me Sarah Jane if you like. Well Andrew, how about showing me whatever you're most proud of? I'm sure you've made some amazing advancements. I have to ask you first though if you mind if I record this?" She pulled her mini tape machine out of her purse and held it up to him. "It's so much easier than taking notes."

"Of course not," he said. "I understand completely."

"Thank you for being so accommodating," she said flipping a switch then clipping the mic onto her lapel.

"We try," he said modestly. He motioned for her to take his arm and follow him as he led her down the hall to a room full of equipment. "This is where we do some of our nerve studies." He launched into an extremely technical discussion of neurons, dendrites, and neurochemicals.

"Oh my," she laughed, putting on her best 'helpless female' impression. "I'm so glad I don't have to write all those big technical words down. I'm sure I'd misspell every one of them. Could you please give me a layman's explanation of all this?"

"Of course," he said. "Basically, our work here centers on the regeneration of damaged brain tissue. Ultimately this could lead to treatments for brain injuries such as stroke or a relatively new phenomenon called Alzheimer's Disease."

"My, that sounds very serious. Can you tell me more about this disease?"

He followed her as she meandered through the lab. "It's a disease in which the nerves in the brain get all tangled up and covered with a kind of plaque. It leads to memory loss, and then loss of function, almost, but not quite, exclusively in the elderly."

"Sounds perfectly dreadful," she said. "And do you think you're close to finding a cure for it?"

"Well Sarah Jane, we still have a very long way to go. But we've seen some promising results in our work."

"That's fascinating," she said looking about the room with no apparent motive. "Hey," she said suddenly, as if she had just noticed the discrepancy. "Where's that thingy John was in when he realized he was claustrophobic?"

"The Cerebro-Scanner? I'm afraid that it's no longer here. We sent it out to have all of its components checked after your friend's experience. We certainly don't want to cause anyone any distress."

"That's so admirable of you. Your concern about your patients' welfare is so refreshing. May I ask how you developed it?"

"Oh, it's a concept I've been working on for years, then all of a sudden about six months ago, it came to me all at once how to do it. Flashes of intuition catch us all, Sarah Jane," he said.

She noticed the glint in his eyes when he smiled. She was pleased to see that he was getting comfortable with her. She returned his warm smile with one of her own. 'Aren't you the charmer doctor Linus,' she thought to her self. "I suppose you've heard it before, but I must to say Andrew, you're quite charismatic."

"Why thank you," he said. "Now why don't we go sit down in the lounge for a bit?" He stood and waited as he held the door open. "Makes for a more relaxing atmosphere and gives us a chance to get friendly while we talk."

Sarah smiled widely at him. "That sounds perfectly lovely."

* * *

><p>Sarah Jane was somewhat disappointed as she walked into the elevator. The interview was over and she had gotten absolutely no information other than what Dr. Linus had meant for her to have. If only Harry hadn't of stopped her from checking things out when she wanted to. She was sure that Dr. Linus' office wouldn't have been as pristine as it was today. She put her head down and spoke into her hidden mic. "Well, that was a waste of time wasn't it? I'll be with you in a minute. I'm on the lift down right now."<p>

Twenty seven seconds later, when the lift reached the lobby, it was empty.


	21. Chapter 21

"What do you mean, 'she's gone'?" the Brigadier roared.

"I'm sorry sir," Benton said. "The detail monitoring her communications said she reported that she was on her way out, but our man in the lobby said she never got off the lift. We've searched the building but there's no sign of her."

The Brigadier looked at the clock on his desk and sighed heavily. Sixteen hours until world leaders would start arriving.

* * *

><p>Harry's call had been a little odd - Sarah was going to be late, and she wanted him to eat dinner with Harry at UNIT so she wouldn't worry about him - but the driver he'd sent, Sgt. Jennings, was friendly enough, putting him at ease pretty quickly.<p>

"So how do you like being a civilian," Jennings joked with him during the drive.

John had been about to break the silence by asking what it was like to be a soldier, so he found himself laughing before he could open his mouth. "Everyone asks that, eh?"

"It's usually the first thing they say, so I like to get my little joke in first," he laughed. He reached his free hand over to John to shake. "Name's Albert Jennings, you can call me Bertie if you like."

"Nice to meet you, Bertie," John said, shaking his hand.

"And how would you liked to be addressed Sir?"

"Oh, er," John stammered, "just … John, I suppose."

"Well 'Just John', if you don't mind I'm going to call you Johnny. Much more friendly that way. Say Johnny, what's a quiet looking fellow like you going to UNIT HQ for, if I'm not being too nosey?

"Friendly is good," John said, relaxing a bit into his seat. "Honestly, I've no idea. My friend Doctor Sullivan says that I'm to have dinner there, but he sounded a bit odd when he called."

"Oh, you're in with UNIT's elite then. You'll have a much better dinner than I will, I can promise you that," he laughed. "Here's your dinner date now," he said as they pulled up to the door.

Harry met him at the car with a completely unreadable expression on his face, his head down. Having to deal with Sarah Jane's anger yesterday had been bad enough; she'd let him know precisely how furious she was with him for telling the Brig what she had been up to.

At the time, he hadn't been sorry he'd done it, though he'd never intended to hurt her or make her feel smothered. He'd just been worried, and now it seemed he'd been justified. Now she was missing, and that was **with**UNIT's help.

While he had been waiting for John to arrive, his mind had been racing, thinking about the danger she could be in and what might be happening to her. He hated the feeling of helplessness that was overwhelming him.

What he had to do next wasn't sitting well with him either. All he could bring himself to say was, "I need you to follow me John. The Brigadier would like to talk to you before we have dinner." Then he turned and headed inside. As he put his hand on the door, he straightened himself as best he could.

John followed Harry into the complex. He'd seen a bit of it - more than he'd really wanted to - when he and Sarah had been summoned by the Brigadier, so it wasn't completely unfamiliar, but he was still a bit surprised when Harry led him to what looked like a corridor of flats. He followed Harry inside a smallish looking apartment. "People live here, do they?"

Harry turned to face him, and for a moment, he didn't say anything. Then he took a deep breath. "Please sit down for a moment, John. I have something I need to tell you."

Harry looked so troubled that John wondered what could be so difficult to tell him. He looked around him at the apartment and sat down slowly on the couch, the situation beginning to become clear in his mind. "Did Sarah decide she doesn't want me living at her house any more? Did I do something wrong?"

Harry sighed deeply and sat down, putting a reassuring arm on John's shoulder. "No, that's not it at all. It's nothing you did. She thinks you're great." He took another deep breath. "I'm afraid that Sarah Jane won't be coming home today, John. In fact, I'm not sure when she's coming home. I'm sorry to say that she's been abducted."

"Ab..." John tried to absorb what Harry was saying. "Wait a minute," he realized, "she told me she was just going to run some errands. She must have gone to Doctor Linus this morning!" Worry began to gather in the pit of his stomach. "She was supposed to wait for UNIT, wasn't she? Did she go off on her own? You can go after her, can't you?"

"No," Harry said, "that's not it either. She was at UNIT this morning and they wired her so they could cover her moves and hear everything that was happening to her."

"So … so you lot were involved, then, and you let her get kidnapped? How could you let that happen?" He felt a strong emotion rising in him, but he wasn't sure whether it was fear or anger.

Harry sighed again. "We didn't just 'let' it happen, John. She finished the interview and was on her way down in the lift. She never got out of it. She seems to have simply vanished somewhere between the third floor and ground level."

"Well … have you looked for her, then?"

"We did everything we could, John, but we have no idea of what's happened to her or where she is right now." Harry stood. "I'm afraid, old man, that for now, our Miss Smith is missing in action."

"So … we need to find her, then." John said, standing and heading for the door. "UNIT's still looking, aren't they? You're not going to stop until you find her, right?"

Harry stepped in front of him. "No, of course we're not going to stop until we find her." He brought John back to the couch. This was the part he'd been particularly dreading. "There's more, John. I'm sorry, but you're going to be living here until she's been rescued and home safe."

John staggered backwards for a moment. "What?"

Harry put his hands on John's shoulders, partly to steady him, and partly to keep him from bolting. "Orders is orders John. You've nothing to be concerned about though, UNIT has plenty of room, as you can see, and the accommodations aren't that bad. Much better than a homeless shelter and certainly much safer. Everyone will treat you well, and I'll be here every day to check on you and visit. We can even send a detail to go and get some of your things. They can bring that computer you've been working on as well, and anything else you feel might make you more comfortable. I'm afraid the food isn't as good as Sarah Jane's cooking, but it's edible and there's loads of it. You'll be fine, you'll see."

John looked around at the room, which seemed to be getting smaller by the second. His heart pounded. He thought it must have seemed like a trivial thing to everyone else, but Sarah Jane's house was the only home he'd ever known, and the thought of just picking up and leaving... "You can't do that," he said as Harry once again blocked his path to the door. "You can't keep me here, you just can't."

"I'm afraid, Mr. Doe," the Brigadier said as he strode into the room, "that we can, and we shall. We are responsible for Miss Smith, and as she was responsible for you, that means that as of right now, you're our responsibility as well. You are officially the legal ward of UNIT."

John sank back into the couch, slowly shaking his head. "The legal … Harry, you're not going to let them do this..." He looked up at him, his eyes pleading. "Are you?"

Harry slumped back down onto the couch next to him. Why did he always seem to be the one stuck in the middle and getting blamed for everything? He sighed and wished Sarah Jane was safe and he was very far away, preferably with her.

He brushed his hand over his head and looked up at John. "I'm sorry John, I have to take my orders from the Brigadier." He knew he wasn't responsible for anything that had happened, but when his eyes met John's, he felt like he'd just shot Bambi.

"Look, John," he said, trying to sound cheerful. "At least you know that you're completely safe here. Why, if the aliens wanted to come after you, they'd have to take take on an army to do it. We have a huge arsenal of men and weapons to protect you. No one could get past them," he said, hoping it helped John feel better.

John thought about what he was saying and his shoulders slumped. "And that's why I have to stay here," he said quietly. "Because UNIT still isn't sure I haven't been compromised."

"You may have no memory, Mr. Doe," said the Brigadier firmly, "but I'll say this for you, you're as sharp as they come."

John thought about how easily he'd watched Sarah walk out the door into danger that morning. "Not sharp enough, apparently," he sighed.

* * *

><p>The Brigadier walked back to his office, knowing that Sullivan was getting Mr. Doe settled in. He felt better knowing that that particular loose end was accounted for. At least for now.<p>

Now he just had to find Miss Smith, defeat the aliens, and prevent a takeover of the entire world and then he could go somewhere very far away for a long vacation. It was all he'd need to be really happy.

* * *

><p>Engvar Sa-itch'wi stood at the console of his ship, staring down at the Earth, seething. His antennae twitched angrily at the unfolding events.<p>

It wouldn't be long now before the leaders of the major states would be together, and then their plan would be complete. The soldier drones had completed their work, as had the human hosts. Everything was ready.

Except.

Except for the interloper.

He looked at the monitor, staring at the female in her cell. The male newspaper host had confirmed her identity, and the likelihood that she had been investigating the physician host, Linus. Who knew who else she had gotten involved? Who knew what new interruptions and obstacles were falling into place every moment?

Why is it, he thought, that just when you have everything in place, and you know exactly what is going to happen, someone or something has to get in the way? "Why?" he roared, sending underlings skittering out of reach of his Andrarrrastick.

Even the simplest things weren't working out. Under any other circumstances, they would just inoculate her as a host, and that would be the end of it. They could send her back, and use her to dismantle those obstacles. But no... the soldier drones insisted that there were "mitigating anomalies" that made it impossible.

"I'll give you 'mitigating anomalies'," he shouted. "Prepare my transport!"


	22. Chapter 22

Sarah Jane Smith sat there thinking while she absently played with her lip. The moment she'd been teleported out of the lift, and before they'd thrown her into this cell, the aliens had attempted to do something to her, but whatever it was, they hadn't seemed to succeed.

She was hungry, as well. She had been here for hours with no sign of food, and worst of all, no loo, though from the view through the translucent walls, it seemed that her cell was in another terrestrial office building, rather than, say, an alien ship.

She thought about screaming, and thought that she might do it yet, but she wasn't sure what would happen if she did try it. Getting up off the floor, she went to the edge of the glass sort of material and banged on it. "Hey, is anyone out there," she said calmly. "I'm hungry and bored. Doctor Linus? Funny little red creatures? Anybody? Oh come on!"

She pounded harder and the front portion of the glass started glowing an eerie shade of yellowish green. She stood away from it and waited to see what would happen.

* * *

><p>After a couple of hours of tinkering, John had decided that he couldn't go any further on the computer without getting some additional parts, and now, out of the corner of his eye, Harry watched him wander around the lab and yawned. He'd wound up having an extra cot brought to John's quarters and sleeping there, rather than living with the frightened look in John's eyes when he'd realized he'd be alone for the first time, and as usual he hadn't gotten much sleep.<p>

He shook his head, laughing to himself. Why did he suddenly feel like this was bring your child to work day at UNIT? "John," he said as he waved his arm at him. "Come sit here by me and just look at this. It's really amazing stuff."

John came and sat next to him, looking over the photos and chemical diagrams. "Is this Private Hart's autopsy?"

"As a matter of fact it is," said Harry as he resisted the urge to put an arm around John as if he were five. "Here, see those squiggly sort of broken purplish and very dark red lines? Those are foreign bodies, they don't belong in the human body. They must be from the aliens bite," Harry said proudly.

John nodded, then pulled a photo from the stack. "And this is the microscopic view of it? It looks almost like a …" He turned it upside down, and shuttered a little. "It looks like a tiny version of the aliens, only with fewer legs."

Harry's mouth fell open in amazement. "Are you absolutely sure of that, John?"

John looked hard at Harry. "Harry, I only saw them for a moment, but I will never, ever forget that." His heart pounded just thinking about it. "Yes, I'm sure."

Harry pulled out a file and started to show John the breakdown of the chemical they discovered the aliens were excreting into the deceased soldier's bloodstream. After about five minutes of in-depth explanations, Harry stopped in mid sentence. 'I must be going mad from sleep deprivation,' he thought to himself. 'He couldn't possibly understand any of this.' He slapped the file closed and began to put it away. "Sorry old man, didn't mean to go on like that. Stuff and nonsense really. I'm feeling rather peckish. What say we go and find a snack of some sort?"

"I am hungry," John said, as he usually did when someone suggested food. But he was a bit more distracted than usual. He stood up slowly, still looking at the stack of papers. Then he tilted his head to the side and went back to the table, picking up the folder and flipping through the stack of diagrams. "Harry," he said without preamble, "this compound here. You said it was fusing to the neurotransmitters in Hart's brain."

Harry looked at John warily. "Yes," he drew out his answer. "Why?"

"Well, look," he said, pointing to one quadrant of the compound. "Under the right circumstances this molecule would resonate with radio waves and control the target molecule's ionization and the ability for the neurotransmitter to do its job."

Harry only thought he was amazed before, now he was completely dumbfounded. "John, how did you know that?"

"Well," he started, as though it were obvious, "I … actually," he realized, "I have no idea. Maybe I was Royal Chemical Engineer to the Queen. But really," he said, starting to get excited, "this means that they could have used radio waves to control Hart's brain. But the question is," he continued, as though Harry wasn't even there, "if their target is the summit, what were they trying to do? I mean, they could only control the people they'd already stung …"

"Stay here and don't move." Harry shouted as he dashed out of the room.

* * *

><p>The "glass" slowly glowed and dissipated. Two red aliens stood at the door. These two aliens, at about her height, larger than the ones John had described, but essentially similar, were the same two aliens who'd taken her - or at least, they looked the same - but then behind them was another, and that was a different story. It was a much darker red, almost black, and while she got the sense that it was larger than the others, it seemed to be sitting, hunched as she had seen the others do, so she couldn't quite tell.<p>

"Now," the translator speaker said, "explain to me why this one has not been inoculated." She didn't recognize the voice, so it must have been the newcomer.

"She is galoopnica," a more familiar voice said. The last word seemed staticy, as though the translator was having trouble with it, and Sarah wondered what it meant.

"Galoopnica?" the speaker boomed.

"Yes, sir, galoopnica."

Both aliens looked at the third and gestured. If she had to describe the motion, it seemed to be as close to a shrug as the little beings could manage. "Well don't look at us," they said.

The newcomer roared, a sound that might have been an expletive in his own language. "No matter. We will get to the bottom of this." The darker alien unfurled himself to a height of almost three meters, towering over all of them, dozens of stingers, all more than three inches long, undulating in the air. It leaned down over her, and any humor she might have seen in the situation evaporated. "Why were you investigating the host?"

Sarah tried to look unafraid. She pulled herself up as tall as she could manage to look. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you mean by that."

"You were investigating the physician host. Why?"

"The physci... oh, you must mean Doctor Linus. He invited me to come and look at his work."

"Who else is involved in this?"

Sarah Jane jumped at the tone of the alien's growl. He was obviously losing patience with her. "Just me, I was checking him out because something strange happened to my friend while he was testing him."

"Your … friend. The blank one."

She stopped and thought for a moment. "Yes, that's him."

"Something strange. What is that?"

"He said he opened his eyes during the the test and when he did, he saw aliens running about."

"Where is he now?"

"He left to visit a friend just before I came here."

"Where is this friend?"

"Harriet? Oh, she lives near Manchester I think."

"You are lying to me," he said quietly. "You will tell me truthfully. Who sent you?"

"No one sent me. I'm a freelance journalist, I work on my own," said Sarah proudly.

A claw like appendage snaked toward her, the pincer coming towards her chest.

Sarah Jane screamed and jumped back as far as she could. If the Doctor were going to come back, now would be a really good time. "Stay away from me you," she said boldly.

The pincer continued toward her until she were backed against the wall, and when she could go no further, it snaked itself under the bottom of her shirt.

She knew there would be even more trouble if they discovered that she was wearing a wire even though she was probably well out of range of the receiver. "UNIT sent me," she said, shaking hard.

The pincer stopped for a moment. "UNIT is your military."

"Yes," she said, glaring at the creature.

Suddenly there was an explosion of movement as the creature whirled around and slammed the wall of the cell, sending glass-like shards everywhere. Sarah heard a roar that wasn't translated - and didn't need to be.

She curled up as tightly as she could, covering her head with her hands.


	23. Chapter 23

The Brigadier was trying to determine the best way to accomodate yet another set of delegates when the door to his office burst open. "Sullivan," he said, "what is going on?"

"Sir," Harry said, puffing as he talked. "You need to come with me right away. There's a new theory about the venom from those bites."

The Brigadier looked at the reports on his desk. Time was running out and they still didn't know what they were dealing with. "And you're bringing me to the theory rather than the other way around because …"

"It's … it's," Harry threw his hands up in exasperation. "It's because it came from John Doe. Now please, come with me. Trust me, you need to talk to him at once."

The Brigadier followed Sullivan back to the lab, still not the least bit surprised.

John was poring through the pile of papers, making notes and scribbling on the back of one of the photographs.

"There, you see." said Harry. "John old boy, show him what you've figured out, please."

John stood up excitedly, grabbing several sheets of paper. "It's all about mind control," he said. "The sting releases a parasite, and the parasite excretes a neurotoxin. Except it's not a neurotoxin at all. It binds to the neurotransmitters in the brain, and then some outside party can control those neurotransmitters by emitting electromagnetic waves of the proper signature. So that's how they did it."

The Brigadier sighed. "Yes, but with the exception of the actual method of control, we already **know** that, Doct- Mister Doe," he said exasperatedly. "We could see the effects of it from Private Hart's behavior."

"Ah," John said brightly, "but you didn't know **this**." He put one foot up on the table. "My feet."

"What about your feet? Sullivan here checked you out and didn't find any stings. What's more, your blood work was completely normal. No sign of the toxin."

"Exactly!" He put his foot down. "I wasn't stung at all, but when I was all drugged up and that machine was on, I could feel my feet moving without me. And after I stood up, I was a little wobbly while my brain took back control. What if that machine wasn't a scanner at all, but rather a way to magnetize the nerves and neurotransmitters in the subject's brain so that they could be controlled without being stung?" He enthusiastically showed the Brigadier a series of sketches that made no sense at all to him. "If they set it up in the vicinity of the conference, they could prime the world leaders, then control them at their leisure later, and no-one would ever know."

The Brig watched and listened. Whoever he was, he certainly **sounded** like the Doctor. Perhaps if he were, all of this would bring his memory back to him. And if not... well, it was good to have someone fill that space. Especially now. "Mister Doe," he said firmly, "I am hereby conscripting you into UNIT for the duration. I want you to work on finding a way to counteract that machine."

John looked over at Harry.

Harry held his hand out to shake John's. "Congratulations old boy, you've been drafted. Well, so to speak. You are now officially in her Majesty's service. Hope you enjoy filling out forms in triplicate."

"Forms in …"

"No, no," the Brigadier interrupted. "Mister Doe, you have just one job, and that's finding a solution. No, make that two jobs. The other is to stay in this room. Under no circumstances are you to leave unless ordered, is that clear?"

"But I -" Realization dawned. "But I've been in the scanner so I **still** may be compromised."

"I'm afraid so, Mister Doe." He pulled out a radio and ordered guards on the door, holding up a hand to John's protests. When he was finished, he tried to look friendly and put a hand on John's shoulder. "They're not your jailers, Mister Doe, they're here to protect you. If the aliens know that you've been compromised, and they know that you're here, we want to keep them as far away from you as possible."

John looked at him for a moment, trying to decide how to react. Finally, he sat down heavily. "Could I at least get lunch?"

* * *

><p>Sarah Jane sat in her cell, planning. She was almost sure what she had in mind would work, but she'd have to wait till one of the aliens came to check on her. She had thought about calling out until someone came, but whoever did would be cautious then. She plotted and schemed a while longer trying to perfect her escape. Since there was no convenient duct in the room to crawl into and get away, she wondered if she could break the strange glass like enclosure that entrapped her. In the end, she decided that if she lay rolling on the floor and made loud unpleasant sounds, one of the things just might rush in to see what was going on and leave the door open when it did. She realized it was very pat, but she was in a see through-room with no obvious escape route.<p>

A few minutes later, Security Drone iSghera'w heard sounds coming from the prisoner's cell, and went to investigate. The human was on the floor, writhing like a pupa, making sounds he had never heard before. He dissolved the door and poked at it tentatively.

Sarah kept rolling and waited. The alien drew closer and she started to moan louder. She carefully began to position herself. It poked her again and this time she kicked it in the thorax with all her might using both legs. The alien fell and began writhing and moaning. She jumped up and ran out of the cell and headed to where she thought the lift was. She was almost there, she could see it now. In a few moments she pushed a button and the lift door opened. She jumped in and pressed the ground floor button. Very soon, with any luck, she would have escaped.

Just then, the lift stopped on the second floor and Doctor Linus was standing there.

"Why, Miss Smith," he said, "how lovely to see you again."

"It's uhm, lovely to see you again too Andrew. I was just leaving. Are you calling it a day too," she asked as casually as she could.

"I am, can I invite you to dinner?"

"I'm afraid I have another appointment and I'm late as it is, but I'd love to have dinner with you another time," she said flashing a warm smile of relief at him. "Shall we set a date for it?"

He flashed a warm smile back at her, and took her arm in a vise like grip. "I'm afraid I really must insist."


	24. Chapter 24

Engrossed in a diagram sketch, John didn't look up when the lab door opened. Before he could find a way to block the scanner, he'd have to figure out how it worked, and he thought he might be close. Harry had seemed disappointed when he'd been called to the medical bay, so he wasn't surprised he'd come back so soon. "Just couldn't stay away, eh, Harry?" he asked, still scribbling.

"Afraid not Johnny, it's Jennings. I've come to give you a lift over to the Brig at Downing street. He needs you there to explain all this technical mumbo jumbo that you're working on. He's in rather a hurry, so just gather it all up and let's push on shall we?"

John looked up at Jennings. "Downing Street? 10 Downing Street? As in … the Prime Minister?"

"Yes, exactly," he laughed. "You're traveling in a very elite circle now, Johnny. Next thing you know, you'll be having lunch with the Queen and calling her Liz."

"Oh, I can't see that ever happening," John said, gathering up his papers. "I'm not really ready to show this to anyone yet, though."

Jennings gave John a friendly tap on the shoulder. "That's between you and the Brig, my son. I'm just here to fetch you for him."

John made sure he had everything and took a deep breath. "All right, then, let's go."

* * *

><p>Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart straightened his uniform as he left 10 Downing Street and tried not to let the meeting from which he'd just emerged irritate him more than it had to. He reminded himself that preparations for a G7 summit were stressful for everyone, and not just for UNIT.<p>

True, he himself was in a bit stickier of a political situation than usual. As the summit's host country, Britain was responsible for security, and as the UK representative of a United Nations organization, UNIT was the perfect choice to direct security for an international gathering. And in a high-level, high-security-clearance meeting like this, he should have been able to be forthright about the nature of the threat the conference may be facing.

But lately there had been unfamiliar faces popping up in these meetings, with identities that didn't quite match up with dossiers. Not that they were international spies; their clearances always checked out. But the Brigadier strongly suspected they were from an organization much more insidious.

UNIT was a public-facing organization with a top-secret mission: protect the world from alien invasion. After his first experience with the Doctor, fighting robot Yetis in the London Underground almost 10 years before, he'd understood the importance of that task. It was why he'd conceived the idea for UNIT in the first place. But the United Nations hadn't been his first choice for a sponsoring body; he'd first brought the idea to the Crown, but it had been shot down.

He'd thought it strange at the time; his contacts within the government had insisted that there was no existing organization with a similar mandate, but he'd never quite believed it. And although he made a big show of being uninterested in politics, he was in fact quite firmly plugged in, and very well aware of subtle changes in the political climate that had occurred once he'd brought his vision to a very enthusiastic UN.

Now he was virtually certain that those unfamiliar faces were from a secret British organization, the name of which he'd only recently learned.

Torchwood.

Thus far he'd managed to discover that Torchwood had been chartered by Queen Victoria for the purpose of protecting the realm from aliens and other "phantasmagoria". Though Queen Elizabeth II was quite fond of the Doctor - even if he did chafe a bit at having dinner at the palace - he'd always thought that the Time Lord was outside of Torchwood's mandate. But sometime after the Zygon incident at Loch Ness, when he'd disappeared with Miss Smith, it had become clear that certain previously unexplained events had actually been somewhat clumsy attempts by Torchwood to capture the Doctor.

So when a mysterious amnesiac "just happened" to land on the doorstep of the Doctor's most recent companion, he'd been quite suspicious, and before sending over guardianship papers, he'd checked things out thoroughly to make sure he wasn't a Torchwood plant, sent to gather information about the Doctor; in fact he'd continued to monitor the search for information on the man's past.

But despite Miss Smith's protestations to the contrary, he had his own theory about John Doe's identity.

Which meant that with possible Torchwood spies in attendance, he'd had to go through an entire preparatory meeting explaining the urgency of the potential danger without exposing just where his best lead - and his best hope - had come from.

'With any luck,' he thought to himself as he pulled his jeep into the UNIT compound, 'Our Mister Doe has come up with a solution.' In fact, he'd been grateful for the opportunity to conscript him into UNIT; at least it gave him more control of the situation.

That happy thought in mind, he strode directly to the lab, but as he turned the corner he realized immediately that the guards he'd ordered on the door were nowhere to be seen. Drawing his sidearm, he kicked open the laboratory door, fearing the worst.


	25. Chapter 25

Sarah Jane Smith was torn. She hated the company, but she was so hungry. Finally unable to resist, she decided to eat and not to let the man sitting across from her get the upper hand if she could help it.

Andrew Linus watched her ravenously tuck in for a few moments before gingerly cutting off a piece of what looked like beef. "I take it, then, that you haven't eaten."

"No, " Sarah Jane said between bites. "Your friends neglected to provide any necessities for me. I've been stuck in a glass room with nothing in it since I became their guest. Not much on hospitality are they?"

"Well, you have to forgive them. They don't quite understand human hospitality." He smiled. "Speaking of that," he said, pointing to a corner with a wall that looked like it had a hidden corridor behind it, "over there. Unisex, I'm afraid, but better than nothing."

"Thank you." Sarah stood up and walked as quickly as she could without breaking into a run. She came out several minutes later looking a lot fresher and more dignified than when she had left the table. She sat back down and started to eat once more.

"There you go," Linus said. "Better?"

"Very much, thank you. This food is lovely by the way," she said savoring the rare Fillet Mignon with just a delicate touch of seasoning.

"Yes, thankfully their ignorance of what it takes to keep humans alive works both ways. They have no idea that bread and water would do. I tell you," he said, chewing thoughtfully, "that there are people here who have never eaten this well before, I can assure you of that."

She nodded and took a bite of the asparagus with hollandaise sauce. "Are you speaking as a humanitarian or an alien Andrew? Or do you prefer to be called by another name?"

"I'm not an alien, Miss Smith, I'm as human as you are." He took a sip of wine. "I've just taken the time to understand what it is that they want, rather than blindly assuming they're here to eat our brains," he laughed.

"Then maybe you can tell me why when they were questioning me they referred to you as the Doctor host? I don't believe for a minute that it meant that they're your guests on this planet."

"No, no, not at all," he smiled. "When they arrived, they identified certain tasks that needed to be done, and contacted individuals that had those skills. In my case, they were drawn to my skills as a neurologist."

It was at the moment that Sarah began to suspect that Doctor Linus had no idea that his mind was being controlled by aliens. She was also willing to bet that the reason he so drastically changed his practice as far as patients were concerned was due to the aliens. Suddenly she realized that for all she knew, the entire staff at St. George's had been bit by them. "So what's their agenda? World domination?"

"In a way, but not how you'd think. In fact, they're trying to protect this world from a much greater threat. You see, the D'itarka have their own enemies, and those enemies have apparently set their sights on this world. They have been distributing doses of a virulent toxin around the world. If any of those doses are released, the devastation will be incalculable. By taking control of this world, the D'itarka are utilizing a sort of 'mutually assured destruction', as the Americans like to call it. Their enemies can devastate the population, but the D'itarka will still be in control of it."

Sarah shivered at what she just heard. "Devastation? Destruction? Listen to yourself! When is that ever a good thing?"

"Well, of course it's not a good thing," Linus said. "It's the threat that's important. The Veattaranshave to believe that they have nothing to gain by poisoning this world."

"And if they don't? Just what will your lot do then?"

"I assume you mean the D'itarka, not me," he said. "I don't know exactly what their plan is, but whatever it is, they'll have the people to carry it out."

"Aren't you putting a lot of **blind**faith into these D'itarka? After all you've said about their plans, I'd be more worried about what they're not telling you. I know you don't know me very well Doctor Linus, but trust me when I say that I've had a lot more experience with their sort than you have."

He smiled kindly. "What kind of experience could you possibly have with beings from another world?"

Sarah Jane smiled back biting her tongue. "Surely you haven't forgotten that I'm been an investigative reporter for years now. Beings from another world, dictators and would be dictators, there all one and the same you know."

"How small-minded of you, Miss Smith. I'm quite surprised."

"Not at all," said Sarah Jane pulling the dessert towards her. "I'm sure there are life forms on other worlds and I'm sure some of them are quite friendly. It just that I'm not so quick to trust any of them before I get all the facts. That's a necessity for a good reporter."

"Of course. Well, you do your job, Miss Smith, and I'll do mine."

She spooned the last bit of the creme broulee into her mouth and then looked over across the room again. "Is it all right if I go and wash up please?"

"Of course," he said.

"Thank you," she said as she stood up and headed towards the loo. Once inside, she lifted the grate off the vent she had already unscrewed and quickly shinnied into it. She reckoned that she had at least ten minutes before Doctor Linus got suspicious.

* * *

><p>John didn't pay much attention in the car, continuing to make notes. "You know," he said, "I have to say, if I've figured this right, it's really pretty ingenious."<p>

"Well that must mean that you're a pretty clever fellow yourself, heh Johnny? Maybe UNIT will want keep you on after all this is settled. Oi, remember to put in a good word for your old buddy Jennings when the Queen grants you knighthood, won't you," he teased.

"Yes, that's right," John laughed, putting down his sketches and looking absently out the window. "That's me, Personal Counsel to the Queen." He took another look and tried to find a street sign to orient himself. One map he'd practically memorized was inner London, and he was eager to find a street name he recognized. "Hang on," he finally said as they pulled into the darkness of an underground parking garage, "didn't you say Downing Street? That's half an hour from here. This is the Docklands, isn't it?"

Jennings laughed again, but this time the laugh sounded different. It wasn't the casually friendly laugh John was used to hearing from him. It sounded almost cruel, yes that was it, a cold, hard, empty sort of laugh. "My, my," he said as he pulled into a parking space in the mostly empty garage. "You really are the smart one aren't you, Johnny boy?"

John's blood ran cold. He yanked the door handle, but nothing happened.

"Don't bother Johnny, it's locked and I'm in complete control," he said as he turned and put his service revolver to the side of John's head.


	26. Chapter 26

The Brigadier stormed out of the now-empty lab bellowing for Benton, who appeared a moment later, as though nothing was wrong. "You called, sir?"

"Of course I did," he snipped. "Where the devil is Mister Doe?"

Benton looked concerned. "Sargent Jennings never arrived with him at the Downing Street meeting?"

The Brigadier could feel the steam rising from his collar. "Benton..."

Now Benton cringed with understanding. "You never requested him to be brought," he said matter-of-factly. "I'll start things moving to find them. I'm afraid they've got a bit of a head start, sir."

"Casualties?"

"None, sir, he had what looked like a valid order from you for the guards to stand down, and Doctor Sullivan took the opportunity to get some rest."

"Well, that's something to be thankful for, at least. Get on it."

* * *

><p>Horace Dewhurst slammed his briefcase down just a little bit harder than he'd intended to, and poured himself a glass of scotch, staring out the window of his Canary Wharf office while his secretary brought him a stack of messages that had arrived while he'd been at Downing Street masquerading as the head of a lesser ministry rather than the Executive Director of Torchwood.<p>

He wasn't quite sure what had just happened, but he knew he didn't like it. Lethbridge-Stewart was hiding something, he was sure of it. Something he didn't want Torchwood to know about.

Oh, there were plenty of stirrings; his people were certain that there had been extra-terrestrial activity growing in the last six months, but no-one had been able to pinpoint it, and he was growing increasingly frustrated by the day. The fact that their lack of progress had been largely due to the need to avoid detection by UNIT just made him even more angry.

He wished, now, that he'd followed his first instincts and simply eliminated Lethbridge-Stewart when he'd first proposed UNIT to the Crown. Now that he had UN backing, he was too high profile to simply disappear.

No, Lethbridge-Stewart was getting too big for his military britches, and he was definitely hiding something. And Dewhurst was going to do something about both.

* * *

><p>Sarah had been moving through the ducts as quietly as she could, hoping to find at least one floor of the building that wasn't occupied by aliens and their "hosts". But every time she peeked through a grate, she saw either aliens or humans - and what bothered her is that there didn't seem to be any distinction between them. They both moved crates and equipment, looking like zombies, no expression on their faces, no emotion in their eyes. She wondered if the humans - thin and not very well dressed - were the men missing from the homeless shelter.<p>

Even that, however, didn't chill her bones as much as what she was looking at now. Like almost every other room she'd seen it was a converted office, but it was what it had been converted into that made her shiver. A single chair sat bolted to the center of the floor, straps and chains giving testimony to its purpose as an interrogation tool as much as the blood and alien goo that stained it and the floor around it. Suddenly, she was glad that the massive alien that had shattered her cell had been too impatient to think clearly, or she might have found herself here, and not as an observer.

Just as she started to crawl past the grate, a door slammed open and a flurry of activity exploded just in front of it. As she ducked back out of sight she thought she saw a handcuffed man shoved into the room, stumbling to the floor with a thud. As she waited, holding her breath, to see whether she'd been spotted, she tried to figure out what, exactly, she had seen. With no sign of her presence being uncovered, she slowly maneuvered herself so she could get a better look.

A soldier with his back to her knelt down with his knee in the man's back and grabbed him by the hair, pulling his head back. "I asked you a question, Johnny boy," he growled.

Sarah almost cried out as she saw John's face, twisted with fear, blood beginning to drip from his nose and cheek. What was he doing here?

"I swear to you, I don't know!" John cried out.

Sarah's mind started to race a mile a minute. If she escaped, she could always lead UNIT back here to rescue John and the others. On the other hand, if she left and he was hurt or moved anything could happen to him and she'd never forgive herself for leaving him. However, if she stayed and tried to rescue him, she ran the risk of getting captured again and she couldn't help anyone that way.

For the thousandth time she wished that they hadn't teleported her out of the range for the wire the Brigadier had insisted she wear. She decided to tarry a bit before she did anything. Her eyes stayed glued on John and the soldier as she waited to see what would happen next.

"Tell you what then, let's see how talkative you feel after being chained up for a while," Jennings dragged John to the chair and strapped him in, his arms, still handcuffed, drawn painfully up behind him over the back of the chair. When Jennings snapped the last lock shut at John's ankle he stood up and looked down at John with a smirk as he squeezed his chin between his thumb and forefinger, twisting his head backward. "Have fun until the boss gets here. After he gets through with you, even your good friend the Queen won't recognize you," he said as he walked away, laughing to himself.


	27. Chapter 27

That was when Sarah Jane knew she couldn't leave John here. She'd have to free him, and then they'd make a run for it together.

John stared after Jennings as he left, breathing hard.

As soon as he was gone, Sarah saw John lean down and start looking at the bindings. He tugged and tried to kick, but nothing seemed to be working, even as his efforts grew more frantic. She could see the handcuffs cutting into his wrists as he struggled to free himself.

Sarah had seen enough. She quietly and carefully opened the vent, then slipped out of it, holding her hands tightly on the edge of it and lowering herself as far as she could. She was relieved to see that the floor was carpeted. She turned her body as she fell, landing with a soft thud and rolling with an ease that could only come from long experience. Before anyone could turn to look if they heard the sound of her fall, she scooted behind the huge desk in the corner of the room.

After a few moments, she peeked out and looked around. Everyone was still lifting and pushing things as if nothing had happened. John was still struggling to get out of the chains, but oddly enough, no one even looked at him. This was a good sign to her. Maybe they were drugged or in some sort of trance. Gingerly, she started to creep out from behind the desk and over to John. Soon she was right behind him. "John," she whispered. "Don't turn around, it's me, Sarah."

John stopped struggling, but she could feel him shaking. "Are you all right?" he whispered.

"I'm fine John, are you alright?"

"I'm a bit shaken, but all right. He was going to shoot me!" John hissed.

"Listen closely," she whispered. "I'm going to try to free you and then we're both going to have to make a run for it. I'm going to come out now, so just stay calm and be ready to run for all you're worth, got it?"

"Got it," John whispered, but he didn't seem anywhere near as confident as she was hoping he would.

Still on her hands and knees, she slowly and cautiously crawled out from behind the chair. When it appeared that no one was paying attention to her, she turned to face John. "Hullo," she smiled at him.

"Hello," he said. He was smiling so big it looked like his face would break, but the fear showed in his eyes. "Am I glad to see you."

She ran her hand over the chain and took a good look at the lock. "I'm glad to see you too. Looks like they're using a fairly standard lock here. Boy, I really wish I had a sonic screwdriver or even a torque tool with me." She looked around the room to see if there was anything lying about she could use. "How did you end up here John?"

"It was Jennings," he whispered. "He said the Brig wanted to see me at a meeting at Downing Street, but we came here instead. He was going to kill me," he said in awe. "Isn't Doctor Linus's office a couple of blocks from here?"

"As a matter of fact John, I have no idea where we are at this moment. Look, I'm going to go back over to that desk in the corner for a moment, just try to stay calm until I get back, OK?"

John nodded.

Sarah headed back to the desk and started rummaging through the drawers. She didn't see much, but she found a paper clip. It wasn't what she wanted, but it was all she had, so it would have to do. She grabbed it and headed back to John. Once she was by him again, she started working on the paper clip. To keep John calm she started talking to him. "So, Jennings picked you up at my house and told you it was the Brig's orders?" She unfolded the paper clip into an "S" shape. By bending it in the center back and forth, she was able to break it into two looped pieces, each with a small hook on one end.

"No, no, Harry called and said you wanted me to come down to UNIT because you were going to be late and then the Brigadier said I had to stay there because you were his responsibility and I was their ward now and then Harry was showing me the autopsy and we figured out what happened to Private Hart and I think I figured out what that scanner does and the Brig told me not to leave unless it was an order but Jennings said he had orders and then when we got here he was going to shoot me," he whispered, catching his breath.

Sarah's hands quickly molded the two pieces she was working on into "L" shapes. "There," she said pleased with herself. "Now I've got a pick and a wrench of sorts." She looked up for a moment and smiled again at John. She remembered that most people weren't used to what had become everyday occurrences for her when she was traveling with the Doctor. "I'm so sorry you had to go all through that John and I think you're very brave."

Picking the locks on the handcuffs was easy, and in a moment he was painfully stretching his shoulders, saying "I don't feel very brave right now."

Sarah inserted one of the bent paper clip pieces into the chain lock and started to twist it carefully clockwise, applying pressure to the lock plug as she did. Next she stuck the other piece into the center of the lock and started jiggling it slowly and raking it against the pins inside the lock. "I've almost got it John," she said with confidence. "I can feel the pins moving."

"I have to say, Miss Smith," Doctor Linus said, striding into the room, "your devotion to your ward is quite extraordinary."

Sarah saw John's knuckles go white as he gripped the chair. She started moving the paper clip tools frantically.

Linus stepped aside and a brace of guards flooded the room. One grabbed her by the arms while another unlocked the chain and a third hauled John to his feet.

"I'd think twice before you tried to harm us if I were you, Doctor Linus. UNIT isn't going to like it if either of us is injured when they get here."

"I'm afraid that UNIT no longer has a say in the matter," Linus said. "Take them upstairs."

The guards shoved John and Sarah into the lift and the doors closed. Sarah inched closer to him, reached over and gave John's hand a squeeze.

John smiled weakly and squeezed her hand back.

A few moments later, the doors opened and a full compliment of soldier drone aliens was there to meet them.

The instant he saw the aliens, John began to scream and struggled wildly, like an animal caught in a trap, until a second soldier grabbed him from behind, putting an arm around his neck and pushing his head forward.

"Stop! There's no need to hurt him, he's just afraid!" Sarah Jane screamed as she tried to pull the arm away from the man holding John.

A few seconds later John slumped in the crook of the man's elbow. The soldier said nothing, dragging John to a cell and depositing him unceremoniously on the floor. Sarah was pushed in roughly behind him, and the glass walls materialized around them.


	28. Chapter 28

Sarah ran to John's side and cradled him against her. "John, are you alright," she said tears running down her cheeks.

John's eyes fluttered open and he looked glad to see her. "Oh, it's you, thank goodness. I was having the most awful nightmare. I got kidnapped, and Jennings was going to kill me, and then there were these aliens, only they were like giant versions of the ones I saw, and... why are you crying?"

"It wasn't a dream! It's all real and we're being held prisoner by the aliens," Sarah exclaimed. This was all too familiar to her, being captured and pushed around, the Doctor getting hurt and her thinking he had been killed.

Only this time it was John and not the Doctor. Why wasn't the Doctor here? That was the way it always worked, wasn't it? She got into trouble and her hero the Doctor always rescued her. Unless of course, he was in trouble and she rescued him. Either way it was always the two of them dealing with their problems side by side, sharing the excitement and the adventure. She always felt safe with things being that way, as if it was all just a game, one that in the end, she always knew they would win.

Without the Doctor here, it was just plain frightening and she didn't like that one bit.

And that's why she was crying. When she looked down at John, it made her think of the Doctor, and for the umpteenth time she asked herself why John made her feel this way. It was familiar, but it was all wrong. Her life lately just seemed so unfair, and she broke down and cried harder, wishing he would just show up already and save them.

John had started to panic when she'd told him it wasn't a dream, but the moment she started crying, he got hold of himself. He pulled himself to a sitting position and leaned against the wall, then awkwardly drew her into his arms, stroking her head.

Sarah Jane had herself a good cry and then looked up at John. He wasn't the Doctor. But that wasn't his fault, she thought as she sniffed and tried to stop crying. John was sweet and innocent and she needed to be strong now so she could get them out of there and somewhere safe. "I'm sorry John, I didn't mean to break down like that, it won't happen again."

"It's all right. I … er … I wasn't exactly being … er … well, I've never been imprisoned by aliens before," he said, trying to smile.

Sarah laughed. "It does take some getting used to. I remember the first time it happened to me. It was the Sontarans, and I was quite taken aback. You remember, I wrote about it in the first part of my book. Now you know that it's all real. Reading about it's much better than experiencing it though, wouldn't you agree," she smiled at him. "The Doctor was there though, so it all turned out all right," she said, not thinking about how John might react to it.

John did actually manage to smile when she laughed. "Well, if he were going to come back, I'd vote for now as a really, really good time."

Sarah laughed again. "I couldn't agree with you more, John. However, in case he doesn't show up, we'd better work on a plan of our own to get out of here."

He nodded and looked out at the aliens for the first time, and shuddered. "They're pretty scary, aren't they."

"I suppose they are, but trust me, I've seen much bigger and much worse John. Remind me to tell you about the Daleks one day when things are a bit less hectic than they are now." She looked around and she sighed. They were in another one of those glass-like cells, with no obvious means of escape.

"Hectic. Now there's an interesting adjective. Just think, an hour ago I was -" John stopped mid-sentence, sitting bold upright. "Sarah, we've got to get out of here. We have to stop that machine. I've just realized it's much more dangerous than we thought."

* * *

><p>The Veattaran leader stood in Sarah Jane's living room for the third time in two days, stroking his green fur and becoming more than concerned. He looked around and realized that she was still nowhere to be seen, and howled in agony.<p>

His second greatest fear was that she had been captured by the D'itarka; his greatest was that she had been captured, and that she had had the capsule with her at the time.

He prayed fervently that he was over-reacting, that she would be back soon and that she, and the cylinder, were safe. Whatever the case, he couldn't wait any longer. He decided to send his best team to search for the capsule. The search would put her home in disarray, which was regrettable, but he couldn't lose that capsule.

To lose that would be to lose the war.

* * *

><p>Sarah's eyes grew wide. "Why," she asked as she grabbed his shoulder. "What's so dangerous about it, John?"<p>

"Well, I was just realizing that in order for them to accurately prime the subject's brain, they've got to have had a scan of their baseline brain waves, in order for everything to resonate properly," he said.

"And that means?" She sighed. Talking to John at times was just like talking to the Doctor. He was always saying complicated technical things that he thought should be obvious to her.

"It means that they're going to have to run this thing at such a high energy level that anybody within … oh, I don't know, 10 miles? - whose baseline scan isn't programmed into it is going to have their brains turned to scrambled eggs."

"Oh, is that all," she said. "Well then I suppose we'll have to find a way out of this cell won't we? Any ideas?"

"Um … not really?" He sighed. "How did you do it?"

"I waited for someone to appear after I started moaning in agony and then I kicked one and ran past it. I don't think they'll fall for that a second time."

"No, I doubt it." He thought about it for a moment. "But you know, they do seem to have a kind of hive mentality, acting in unison, right? Or is it just me? I mean, I haven't really seen much of them, but it seems reasonable given what they're trying to do."

"It sounds like a reasonable assumption to me." Sarah Jane slid down the side of the glass wall she had been leaning against and put her knees up, wrapping her arms around them. "Oh Doctor, what would you do if you were here," she said out loud.

"You keep talking as though you expect him to appear at any moment," John said. "You said the same thing when you got the cylinder, that it was a sign that he was coming. Do you really think he will?"

"Well, at first I was sure he would be here any minute, but now, I have no idea if he'll show up or not. If he were coming, about now would be the right time to show his face." She stared at the door across from their cell as if watching it would make him magically appear. She pictured him dissolving the cell door with his sonic screwdriver and flashing a toothy grin at her, but he wasn't there and she knew now that she couldn't hold her breath waiting for him. She hugged her knees and sighed dejectedly.

"Well, I suppose we'll just have to hold the fort until then." He squeezed her hand. Suddenly something occurred to him. "Sarah, are you still wearing that wire?"

"Yes," she said touching her chest where the wire was. "But it's useless John, we're well out of range of the receiver."

"Useless is in the eye of the beholder," he smiled. "It depends what you want to do with it," John said. "Obviously we're too far for UNIT to hear anything, but it is a radio transmitter, so that means that if these things use the same kind of electromagnetic manipulation to synchronize their actions as they did with Private Hart, we should be able to use the transmitter to kind of jam that control over a short distance." He looked at her expectantly.

Sarah beamed at him as she modestly reached down her blouse and tore the wire off. Handing it to him, she shook her head. 'What would the Doctor think of John?' she wondered. 'They'd probably act like long lost brothers.' Then she smiled mischievously. 'Maybe he'd be jealous of John. Now that would be fun, wouldn't it?'

"Marvelous," John said as he popped off the battery cover, oblivious to her flight of fancy. He thought for a moment. "You didn't by any chance hold onto one of those paper clips..."

She smiled again as fished the two pieces out of her pocket and held them out to him. "Do you mean these?"

"You're a genius," he smiled, and set to work on the electronics. For a few minutes, it was as though Sarah wasn't even there, but then he looked up at her and gave her his full attention, as though nothing had happened. "There. Now when we put the battery back in, it should disrupt any of those things within about 10 feet or so." He paused. "Maybe. It could just spark and smell bad. No way to really test it, I'm afraid."

Sarah nodded at him. "All we have to do now is wait for them to come back and the moment they open the door, I'll start talking and distract them while you put the battery back in. If it works, we'll know it right away, won't we?"

"Oh yes, definitely. In fact, you won't even have to distract them, the battery just pops back in. We just have to wait for them to … " He went white. "They were going to come for me next, weren't they."

Sarah reached out and put a hand on his. "Don't worry John, it'll work, I'm sure of it. We'll be out of here in no time."

John swallowed and nodded.

* * *

><p>The Brigadier sat at his desk, thinking. Dignitaries were already in-country, and would be arriving for the actual summit within hours. Normally, he would be out in the field personally supervising preparations, but he needed time to think, and he had precious little of it.<p>

They knew that the aliens were likely to use this scanner thing, but they didn't know how, or from where. He'd considered simply blanketing the area with a massive radio jamming signal, but that would leave all of his teams cut off from each other and make security impossible. And if they were wrong about the nature of the threat, all he'd be doing was making things worse.

The search for Jennings and Doe had turned up nothing, just as the search for Sarah Jane had. And then there was the question of whether Jennings had been a victim of the aliens or a plant by Torchwood.

He wasn't sure which was worse, and he was out of time to think about it.

Finally, he made a decision. "Benton!" he called. "Bring me a list of everyone who was on duty with Hart when he was attacked. Let's see if we can't find a trail to our missing personnel, shall we?"


	29. Chapter 29

The Veattarran commander, Shaboor, landed back in Sarah Jane's house with his first squadron. He called out for her, knowing it was useless, but feeling the need to try. "Start searching." he growled, half angry, half concerned. He should never have trusted the woman, but the Doctor had called her his best friend. If only they could have found him directly, rather than going through a surrogate!

Of course, had they been able to find the Doctor, none of this might be happening.

He shuddered as he thought of what could happen if they couldn't find the cylinder he had left in her keeping.

"I found it," said one of the soldiers, holding it up with relief.

"Thank Zaron," said the leader. "Let's go then, we still have a lot of work before the battle begins."

* * *

><p>Every time one of the aliens passed the door to their cell, John tensed and his breath caught in his throat.<p>

"Patience, John," Sarah whispered.

John nodded. "Patience isn't my problem. I'm just thinking about what they're coming in for, and what's going to happen if this thing doesn't work."

"If there's one thing I learned from the Doctor, it's to look calm and confident, especially if you're not." She smiled calmly. "See? Just try it John, it isn't as hard as you think."

John started to laugh. "You know, somehow that doesn't make me feel better about how confident you are."

Sarah leaned next to his shoulder, put her head on it and laughed with him.

* * *

><p>The Brigadier finally felt as though he had a direction. They'd identified no less than five members of Private Hart's party who could have been infected, and a detailed analysis of those soldiers' movements had identified three possible target locations - one of which had also been visited by Sargent Jennings three days before.<p>

Now if they could only mobilize enough personnel to find Sarah Jane and her ward Mr. Doe and eliminate the scanner before it did any damage. Assuming, of course, that he was right about where they might be, and the nature of the threat. With all of their information gone with Mr. Doe, even that was uncertain.

And with just three hours to go, there was no room for error.

* * *

><p>An hour later, despite Sarah's attempt at confidence-building, John was a wreck. His imagination had been working overtime thinking about what would happen to him if the jammer didn't work.<p>

So when the doors did dissolve and two large aliens reached for him, John pushed on the battery, but his hands were shaking so hard that he felt it fall to the ground. As he was reaching for it two pincers encircled his upper arms and in a moment he was dangling in the air and Sarah was receding like a lifeboat in a nightmare.

Sarah leaped at the device that John had dropped and quickly pushed the battery in with a "snap!" She looked up at the aliens and held her breath.

For a moment, John thought he would be torn apart as the two aliens turned in different directions, but then one of his arms slipped out of the pincers, and he fell to the ground, finally free of the other. A moment later Sarah was pulling him to his feet and he was running for all he was worth.

Luckily, Sarah Jane remembered which way they had come from when they were dragged into the room. She reached out and grabbed John's hand. They ran for what seemed like a long time, and then she stopped suddenly. She dropped John's hand and pulled him behind her, holding her finger up to her mouth to keep him from talking.

She poked her head out from behind the wall. Looking both ways, she saw the coast was clear. "Come on," she whispered, grabbing John's hand again.

Once more they ran, and didn't stop until they came to the elevator. She pushed the button and then stood off to the side with John until the door opened. When no one came out of it, she peeked around the corner once more to see if the car was empty, then pulled John into it. "Hold the lift door open John, but be ready to close it at a moment's notice. Got that," she asked him.

John nodded, wondering what she was up to, but didn't question it, instead doing what he was told.

"Good, now then stand here just pushing that button." She positioned him where she needed him to be and slowly and carefully she started to climb up on his shoulders. "Try not to move John, this will only take a moment." She steadied herself and then started to pry open the panel at the top of the lift. Once she had it opened, she climbed up on top of it. "Shut the door John and push the buttons for the every floor."

"Every floor? Are you crazy?"

"Look, you said we needed to find that machine didn't you? If my sense of timing is correct, then the summit should be starting in about three hours. People will be arriving any minute."

John squeezed his eyes together and shook his head, then took a deep breath and pushed every floor. When he turned back to her, Sarah had wrapped her feet around one of the steel cables. She reached her arms down. "Quick John, grab my hands and climb up here with me."

John looked at her as though she'd lost her mind. Then the elevator started moving and he thought about what would happen if it stopped on another floor with him standing there, and before he knew it he was hanging on to the lip of the access door and she was helping him haul himself onto the roof by his belt. A moment later he slammed the door shut and tried to look at Sarah, and not the moving walls.


	30. Chapter 30

"Remember John," Sarah smiled with a challenge. "Confidence no matter what happens."

"Right," he said nervously. "Confidence." He tried to steady himself on the roof of the elevator as it descended, and thought about what he knew. "All right, I could see out the building windows when we were in the cell, so I know where we are. If I were setting up this machine, I'd want to be on the -"

The lift stopped with a bit of a jar. Sarah grabbed onto John to steady them both and they peered through the crack in the elevator doors of the floor they'd just come from. There seemed to be some confusion, but no alarm yet.

"As I was saying, it should be about 6 stories down from here for an optimal trajectory."

The car stopped at the next floor and they once again peered through the crack. They couldn't see much, but it didn't look like that level was even in use, so they just braced themselves for the next floor.

But the lift didn't stop at the next floor. Or the floor after that. Or after that.

"Oh, oh," Sarah whispered to John. "No matter what happens next, stay as calm and quiet as you can."

John nodded. "I think I know what's going on," he whispered. When the lift finally did stop, he pried open the doors of the floor above slightly and peeked in. "Yes, this is definitely it. Come on," he said, and pulled her over to the shaft ladder just as the lift began to drop again.

"Perfect," Sarah Jane smiled. "Now all we have to do is pry the door open. Once we get in," she said patting John's device. "We lock their thinking up."

"Right, well, just remember that's only good for ten feet or so, and if we leave it on constantly it won't last very long. It's just a nine-volt, after all."

"We'll just have to wait until we get close enough to them, won't we then," she said with determination.

"I'm not sure waiting is much of an option. That summit could be starting any minute."

"Then I suggest that we get to it now." Sarah leaned over while holding on to the ladder with one hand and began pulling at the door. She turned to John. "Well? Get busy, you."

"Hang on," John said, "I've got another idea." He climbed the ladder to the floor above, then pried the door away from the wall enough to get the slightest peek in. "There's no guard on this door, but there does appear to be a landing. Since the elevator doesn't stop here, they're not likely to be expecting anyone."

"Good idea," she said smiling at him. "Lead on."

John held the ladder with his right hand, leaning to his left until he was face-to-face with the gap between the two elevator doors. Silently, he used his free hand to pull the closest door towards him until the doors were a couple of centimeters apart. "The coast looks to be clear," he whispered, then reached up and pushed a latch, releasing the elevator doors. Slowly he pushed the far door while Sarah pulled the near one, and taking a deep breath, he swung himself from the ladder to the catwalk, then held his hands out to Sarah Jane.

'Funny,' thought Sarah. 'It's all so familiar, and yet...' her mind wandered as she watched John. She was a galaxy away when she heard him call out to her.

"Don't be frightened," he said, even though he himself looked less than confident. "I won't let you fall."

"I know that John," she said softly.

He smiled a little wider and pulled her over the threshold, catching her and then ducking down with her behind the protective banister of the landing.

Sarah Jane pushed her emotions into the back of her brain and decided to ignore them for now. Plenty of time to think about it all later. Right now the world needed saving. She wished yet again that the Doctor would just hurry up and get here. He should have been here by now.

After a moment they stood slowly and took in their surroundings, and their jaws dropped. The room was six stories high, and almost completely filled with what might have been easily identifiable as machinery if it hadn't been so … alien. Overall it gave the impression of a giant version of the scanner John had been subject to, but instead of white gleaming metal most of the surfaces were of a brown chitin-like substance. Worker drones scurried about, some carrying what looked like parts, some directing the action.

"Oh my," was all John could manage.

"Oh my indeed," said Sarah Jane easing her hand into her pocket and clutching the device John had made. "I'll cover you while you go disconnect that thing, alright?"

"Right, yes, of course," he said, trying to clear his head. "We'll have to … er … disable it somehow. Let's … hm … come on," he said and took her hand, leading her towards the stairs leading to a hole in the side of the machine. It looked almost like a cave, with a faint glow emanating from the walls. "Hopefully we'll be out of here before they actually turn it on."

Sarah's mouth dropped open as she pointed at the machine. "Do you mean to say that you intend for us to walk into that thing?"

He looked at her as though it were obvious. "Well, there don't seem to be any controls on the outside, and besides, we need to sabotage this thing so that they can't just switch it back on. Can you think of a better way to do it?"

Sarah looked over at the machine again, it was nothing worse than she'd done in the past, but that was when the Doctor was standing there beside her. She looked into John's eyes. After a moment she shrugged. "I suppose you're right." She reached up and took hold of his arm. "Do you think there might be any radiation being emitted by that thing?"

"Oh, not until they turn it on, and even then it's a big machine, it'll take a little while before it gets going enough to actually emit anything." He started walking in with her, carefully watching for any aliens. "And by then we'll want to be long done anyway, because if it's running and I disconnect the wrong thing, well …" He swallowed hard. "Let's just say aliens will be the last thing we'll have to worry about." He peeked around a corner. "Or most of London, for that matter," he mumbled.


	31. Chapter 31

They trekked deeper into the machine, checking around each corner as they went. They could tell they were working their way upward; Sarah thought they must be about 3 stories up by now. She looked around another corner and pulled her head back quickly as she saw a clutch of aliens.

She held a finger up to her lips and then pointed to the aliens. The other hand held tightly onto the device in her pocket.

John motioned for her to turn it on and they waited a moment. When the aliens seemed to falter, John and Sarah hurriedly snuck past them.

Sarah Jane smiled with satisfaction at John. This device of his was a complete success as far as she was concerned. Suddenly a hand came out from no where and grabbed her by the neck. She could feel the barrel of a gun against her ribs. Her smile vanished and her body stiffened.

"I wouldn't take another step if I were you."

John spun around and saw Jennings holding onto Sarah, his gun in her side. "Let her go," he said.

"From where I stand Johnny boy, you're in no position to give orders. In fact, the way I see it, the two of you are coming with me or your girlfriend here is going to get a hole in her pretty little head," he said, pointing the gun at Sarah's temple.

'Well, this is just typical,' Sarah thought to herself. How many times had this same situation happened when she was with the Doctor? 'Think Sarah, what would you be doing right now if you were with the Doctor instead of John?'

She thought for a moment, and then she had her answer. "Oh dear, I don't feel very well," she said and started to slump in Jennings arm. As she went down, she reached up and grabbed a hold of the wrist that was holding the gun to her head. She twisted it and spun herself around and then as he was dropping the gun, tripped him with her right leg. He went down hard and within seconds, she was holding one arm and one leg in such a way that he was completely incapacitated.

"Pick up the gun John, quickly," Sarah said to him as she tightened her hold on Jennings. "I wouldn't make any noise right now if I were you," she cautioned him. "One quick snap and you'll be in an extreme amount of pain."

John picked up the gun and after a moment in which he seemed to be figuring out how to hold it, he held it out at arms length and pointed it at Jennings. "You were going to shoot me," he said. His aim varied widely as John's arm trembled, to the point where he was more likely to shoot Jennings by accident than on purpose.

"John, don't aim that at him," Sarah said calmly. "The safety isn't on."

"Oh, right," John said, lowering the weapon. "I um … I misunderstood, sorry." He found the safety and slid it to 'on'. He looked at Jennings' contorted form. "I don't suppose you've got some kind of … nerve pinch or something that you can put him to sleep with?"

Sarah Jane laughed and shook her head. "Sorry, the Doctor might, but I'm not Gallifreyan or Vulcan. I think we should use your gizmo on him for now and take him with us."

"Right, well, we can't have him shouting the alarm, and no time for anything else." He fished the device out of her pocket and clicked in the battery, then waited for the expression on Jennings' face to change.

"Here, let me get him up and standing straight so we can tell if it worked on him," Sarah said as she cautiously pulled Jennings around to face John.

Jennings stared at both them for a moment and then reached for his handcuffs. Before Sarah or John could stop him he had them out and open, but instead of going after them, Jennings cuffed his own wrist to a nearby rail. "I can't trust myself if they get control over me again. Go and get help, Johnny, and for God's sake, hurry!"

John stared at him for a moment, still in half-flinch after seeing the handcuffs come out.

"Right," Sarah said, grabbing him by the arm. "Come on, we're running out of time."

John was still staring back at Jennings. "We can't just leave him here helpless," he said, handing him back the gun.

"Are you mad?" Jennings said. "If they get hold of me again I'll kill you."

"We'll be long gone by then," John said, and started back down the pathway with Sarah.

Once they got to the center of the machine, Sarah Jane turned to John. "Well, now what?"

John didn't seem to hear her, clearly looking for something along the wall. "Yeah," he said, "this is it. It's like a wire, except that it's not. More like an artery." He started following it.

Sarah followed him as he concentrated on the wire, running his hand along it, going wherever it was leading them.

Finally he came to a cluster that looked like it was deeply embedded in the wall. "This is it," he said. "If we can disable this it should make it impossible to start it." He rummaged in his pockets looking for something sharp. "Don't suppose you're carrying a pocket knife, or razor blades, or your house keys or anything, are you?"

Sarah knew she wasn't but checked both pockets just in case. When she came up with nothing, she just shrugged at John. "Sorry," she said as she began to look around them to see if there was anything lying around they could use.

"Hm," he said, looking around with her. He kept rummaging. "Ah," he said, pulling out the remnants of the paper clips used to pick the lock and build the jammer. "Not ideal, but it will do," he said, beginning to scratch at the chitin. "Start scratching over here," he said, handing her the other piece of paper clip.

She watched him scratch at the wire. "Is this the best thing to do? Shouldn't we be worried about getting electrocuted?"

"Not as long as it's off, don't worry," he said, scratching harder. Finally, he broke through, then started on the third leg of the triangular opening, scoring it enough so that when Sarah broke through he was able to pry it up to expose what looked more like a web of neural connections than circuitry.

He stared at it for a moment. "So if we pull this out and destroy it, it should solve the problem," he said, rubbing his hands together, trying to work up the courage to do it. Finally, he took a deep breath and reached in quickly, wrapping his fingers around the cluster. When nothing happened, he released the breath he was holding, and started to gently twist and pull, trying to work out how to disconnect it.

"Would it help if I pull on it too," Sarah Jane asked.

"Right now I'm just trying to f-" Before he could finish the sentence, sparks flew and a blue arc of electricity surrounded his arm before he was thrown against the opposite wall of the corridor, breaking the connection. A deafening hum began in the floor.

"John," screamed Sarah as she rushed over to him. She wasn't sure what to do. She looked over at the machine and wondered if she should imitate Harry and just start pushing randomly at buttons. She looked back at John. "What should I do?" she called out to him.

John shook for a few seconds, then settled down. "First stop yelling," he rasped.

"Alright," she said as quietly as she could without being drowned out by the noise from the machine. "Now what? This thing could be doing untold damage right now."

John let her help him up and shook his head, trying to think. "We have to … um … we can't pull that now, we have to find another way. If we disconnect that now, the whole thing will blow." He started staggering down the narrow pathway, getting a bit steadier as he went. "Got to find another way." He followed the vein along the wall, until they could see light coming from an opening.

"Whatever we do, we'll have to do it fast. Can you short circuit it or make it collapse on itself or something? Oh, what I wouldn't give for a sonic screwdriver right now," moaned Sarah Jane as she ran after him.

"I'm not sure," John said, only half listening. He followed the vein right up to the opening, where it wrapped around to the outside, and peeked out. Quickly, he drew his head back. "Sarah, I don't know how to tell you this," he hissed, "but there are more aliens out there!"

She pulled the stun device out of her pocket. "Will this work on all of them if we're close enough?"

"I don't know, they're kind of … different."

"How different," asked Sarah. She got a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach as she thought about bigger, nastier, bug-like creatures.

"Er … completely different, actually. Have a look."

Sarah Jane peeked around the corner and gawked in surprise. "It's the Veattarrans! I know them, the one with the insignia on his shoulders is their military leader, Shaboor. He's the one who gave me the capsule."

"Great!" John said. The hum around them started to get louder, and he started to climb out of the opening, trying to follow the vein and find a suitable way to shut down the machine. "They can help us, right?"

"I should hope they would," exclaimed Sarah. "After all the Doctor and I helped save-"

An energy bolt whizzed past her head and she and John ducked back inside as they began flying everywhere. Multicolored energy bolts flew in all directions, and they began to hear the occasional "thump" of something more solid hitting the thick outer shell of the machine.

"They're shooting at us!" John shouted over the din. "OK, well, not **at **us exactly, but definitely **towards **us."

The hum of the machine started to rise in pitch and volume, threatening to split their eardrums.

"That's our cue to get out of this thing John," said Sarah "Ready to make another run for it?"

"But we've still got to turn it off," John shouted. "From the sound of it I don't think we have more than a minute or two left!"

"I'm open for ideas John," Sarah said with frustration. "Have you got any?"

"No good ones," he shouted, grabbing the wire and following it outside, working his way down the ledge as quickly as he could, ignoring the energy bolts flying around him.


	32. Chapter 32

Sarah Jane scooted down after John, also dodging the shots and noticing that the noise from the machine was getting louder by the second.

An explosion punctuated the growing hum, then suddenly UNIT soldiers started flooding into the melee, adding gunshots to the overall din, sounding hollowly against the machine around them.

* * *

><p>"Sir!" Benton shouted, "I think I see them!" He pointed to John and Sarah on the outside of the machine.<p>

"Cease fire!" The Brigadier shouted. He grabbed the binoculars and looked where Benton was pointing. "All units, concentrate fire on the aliens and be sure not to hit Miss Smith or Mister Doe," he said into the radio.

* * *

><p>The bullets stopped for a moment, then started again, but this time they weren't hitting anywhere near them, which made John happy. He could see the junction he wanted, just a few feet away, he tried to ignore the explosion when it happened. After all, it was at floor level, nowhere near them.<p>

When the machine began to topple, he barely had time to grab onto the wire to keep from falling off the ledge, let alone reach for Sarah.

Sarah started to feel her floor go from under her. She looked down and screamed as she started the plunge down to the ground. Suddenly, her body jerked and she stopped falling. She looked up and there was John above her, precariously perched on a ledge and holding onto her arm while trying to keep his grip on a wire above him.

"Hold on!" he shouted! "I need you to grab on so I can get this wire cut!"

If Sarah Jane wasn't terrified, she'd laugh. "Do I have a choice John," she asked dryly.

"No," he said, trying to haul her up, "I mean climb up and hold on to me so that I've got both hands," he shouted back to her.

Sarah didn't need to be told twice, she quickly climbed up and held onto John leaving both of his hands free. She smiled at him to give him confidence. "Let me know if your nose starts to itch."

The machine stopped toppling, suspended at a forty-five degree angle and began to emit a high-pitched whine. "That's the least of our problems," he shouted, frantically pulling himself along the wire. "It's about to blow!" Finally, he reached the junction point and jammed his fist into it. The third time he punched it it cracked and he ripped into it, ignoring how it cut into his hand as he tore the guts out of it.

Suddenly the machine was silent, and for a moment all firing in the room stopped as the combatants took it all in.

Then it started up again in earnest.

"Give me the jammer," John told Sarah.

Sarah slipped one hand carefully off of John's shoulder and pulled the jammer out of her pocket then handed it to him.

John wrapped his left arm around the wire and shoved the jammer into the now empty socket, quickly attaching wires. As he made the last connection, the machine began to emit a low-frequency hum, and the D'itarka began to scurry about aimlessly.

* * *

><p>Engvar Sa-itch'wi stormed into the control room. He'd been on his way downstairs when he'd felt the separation from all of his minions, and now he wanted to know why.<p>

The scene of chaos that greeted him was beyond anything that he'd imagined, and he roared with frustration. The primer apparatus was leaning dangerously, threatening to crush his soldier drones, none of whom seemed able to do even a mildly incompetent version of their job.

Then he caught sight of two humans on the side of the apparatus. Immediately he recognized the female. The other must be the "friend" the physician host had spoken of.

Again he roared, and in three bounds he was gripping the apparatus just above their heads, his stinger poised to destroy Sarah Jane.

Sarah Jane did the only thing she could. She screamed at the top of her lungs.

John heard her scream and looked to see why. For a moment his breath caught in his throat and he was paralyzed with fear.

"Benton!" he heard. "Five rounds rapid!"

Five bullets hit the creature and it almost knocked them off the ledge as it fell, but a moment later they heard it crash to the floor forty feet below and everything was silent.

John grabbed onto Sarah and together they made their way back inside, running quickly down the corridors to the floor level, where the Brigadier was waiting for them.

"Well," the Brig said smiling with satisfaction, "it's good to finally find a monster who isn't immune to bullets."

Sarah clung tightly onto John even when her feet were planted firmly again. "I could have died," she said in shock. "I could have died and..." her thoughts trailed off as she realized it was all over and the Doctor hadn't shown up. It was at that moment she finally knew that he was never coming back and she was truly on her own. Something within her hardened. It didn't show, but she straightened herself up and resolved never to expect to see the Doctor again.

"Miss Smith," she heard the Brig saying, "are you all right?"

Sarah looked at him, but she couldn't speak. Not yet, her emotions were still too raw. She needed time to pull herself together. Instead, she just nodded her head affirmatively.

"Good. And you, Mister Doe? You look a bit worse for wear."

John didn't realize right away what he was talking about, until the Brigadier motioned towards his face and his hand. "Oh, that. Yes, sir, I'm all right," he said, though even now, with the adrenaline beginning to dissipate, he was definitely beginning to feel strain of the last few hours in his exhausted body. Then he remembered something. "Sargent Jennings was going to kill me, but it wasn't his fault. We left him handcuffed somewhere in here."

"Yes, I'm afraid we're well aware of Jennings' activities, Mister Doe, and we will find him. Now if you don't mind, we need to get you to the vehicles and leave the army to clean up so we can get back to the summit." He turned to Benton. "Let the advance team know we've neutralized the threat here and they can begin operations at the site safely."

Benton assigned two armed officers to escort Sarah and John to a waiting Jeep, and as they walked down the sixteen remaining flights of stairs to the parking garage, Sarah could feel the adrenaline beginning to ebb. They sat in the back of a waiting Jeep, and before the Brigadier even arrived, they were both sound asleep.


	33. Chapter 33

The Jeep came to a stop in Sarah Jane's driveway, waking her and John. It took him a moment to remember where they were, and by then Sarah was already climbing down.

Sarah went over to the Brig and smiled at him warmly. "Thanks for being the Calvary and coming to the rescue at the perfect time. I shudder to think what would have happened to us if you weren't there."

"And vice-versa, I'm afraid. Good job there, Mister Doe."

"Thank you," John said tentatively. "I can go … home now, right?" he asked hopefully.

"Absolutely," the Brigadier said, "if you think that you can wait for Doctor Sullivan to arrive to tend to that hand of yours."

"Oh yes, sir," John said, climbing painfully down from the jeep. "Now that I've had a bit of a rest I'm afraid the rest of me hurts much more anyway."

"All right, then. Miss Smith, when you've had some rest call the office about that press pass." And with that, he was gone, leaving Sarah and John standing in the driveway.

"I hope you left a house key out here somewhere," John said. "I've had quite enough of lock-picking for one day."

"As a matter of fact," Sarah Jane laughed softly as she headed over to the back of the house and pulled up a lose brick with a set of spare keys behind it. "I do, see," she held the keys up and jingled them in front of John. She opened the door then looked towards at the sky for just a moment. A cold expression came over her face and then was gone almost as quickly as it came. "Come on John, I don't know about you but I could use a nice warm cup of tea before I head off to sleep." She didn't wait for him to answer, instead flipping the light on and heading over to ready the tea kettle.

Once the light was on, she looked around to see that her house had been ransacked. "Oh no," she exclaimed.

John saw the condition of the house at the same time. "It appears," he said tiredly, "that you've been burgled." He thought about that for a moment. "You know, compared to the last day or so, somehow that doesn't seem to have the same impact that it probably would under normal circumstances."

Sarah shook her head and laughed. It was either that or cry, and it was much easier to laugh right now. "I suppose you're right." She walked into the front room and shrugged at the mess. "Just my luck to get sloppy thieves," she said waving her hands in resignation. "I'm simply too tired to deal with it right now. Let's just head back into the kitchen and have some tea for now. Hopefully they didn't raid that too and there's still some tea bags and biscuits left for us." She stepped over some books and a chair cushion and started back to put the pot on to boil.

John followed her back to the kitchen, watching her. "Are you all right?"

"Other than a little worse for wear, I'm fine," she said somewhat stoically.

"You're not really all right, are you," John said. It wasn't a question.

Sarah put her head down and sighed. "I'm as well as I can be John. It's just that I got a good and proper wake up call tonight, and it really stings."

"A wake up call? How so?"

"I finally get it, John. The Doctor isn't coming back for me. Not now, not ever. He's gotten on with his life and I'm not a part of it anymore. I'm not wasting any more of my life waiting for him to show up." Sarah poured John and herself a cup of tea, then sat down and bit hard into a biscuit .

"You don't know that," he said gently. "He could be trying to get back here right now."

Sarah's eyes flashed with anger and hurt. "I was in danger and he didn't show up. If having my life threatened didn't bring him back, nothing will."

"Sarah, he's not Superman, with super-human hearing tuned to your screams. Just because you're in danger doesn't mean he's even going to know, much less be able to appear at that exact moment."

"That may be so John, but as far as I'm concerned, it means that he isn't interested in me any more. He has a history with women you know, he picks them up, travels with them for a time, then they leave and he never even tries to see them again. He's had dozens of companions before me and he'll have dozens more now that I'm gone. I'm nothing special to him, just another silly little assistant in a long line of them. He isn't worth the pain he's caused me and I refuse to let him hurt me any more."

He gently draped an arm around her shoulder. "You don't really believe that."

Sarah tried glaring at him, but she couldn't. "Oh alright, I admit it," she said and laid her head on his shoulder. "I still care about him. It's only that I'm just so frustrated and furious with him."

"I know. You can't just stop caring about somebody like you can turn off a …" He yawned. "A light switch," he finished. "And speaking of light switches, I don't know about you but I'm exhausted. I'm too tired to even wait for Harry to deal with my hand. Maybe we should just go to bed and think about it in the morning."

Sarah nodded, finished her cup of tea and stood up. "Goodnight John," she said, patting his shoulder. "And thank you for being there for me when I needed you."

"Just returning the favor," he said, and headed off to bed.

It was a few minutes later, while Sarah was finishing her tea, that Shaboor appeared in her living room. "I am gratified to see that you are well," he said.

"Me too, my friend and I almost lost our lives trying to destroy that machine. I'm very pleased to see that you are well too. Did you manage to defeat those things you were fighting?"

"Once their coordination was broken, even your army was able to defeat them. When I left my underlings to supervise, it was, as the Doctor once said, 'all over but the shouting.' I believe the danger to Earth has passed. Engvar Sa-itch'wi, the ... creature who tried to harm you, was the main motivating force behind the D'itarka initiative. They are much more interested in Rodita VII, and now we will follow them there."

"Speaking of the Doctor, have you heard anything from him yet?"

"I am sorry, but we have not. But then, one cannot usually locate him; one has to wait for him to come to you, is it not so?"

"Yes, unfortunately, it's true. If you do see him, could you please tell him you saw me and that I asked you to tell him that I need to see him as soon as possible. Could you tell him as well please that I said it's very important that he contacts me?"

"Of course. But I must warn you, I do not expect it. You are much more likely to find him here than on our world. There is a rumor among the time-sensitive races that there is a time rift somewhere on this world where he refuels his ship."

Sarah Jane's eyes lit up with hope. "You don't by any chance happen to know where that rift is located do you?"

"I do not, I am afraid."

"Oh well," she said trying not to seem to disappointed. "It was worth a try."

Shaboor shifted uncomfortably at her sadness. "At any rate, I wanted to let you know that we have retrieved the canister from your home, and to apologize for any damage we have done."

"Oh, so that was your lot that trashed the house? Thanks for telling me, it saves me calling the police and my insurance company first thing in the morning." She took a sip of tea. "Oh my, I just remembered, there's one more canister here on the planet. I could try and talk to the people that have it in safe keeping. I'm sure I can help you get it back without causing any unnecessary problems."

"Do not trouble yourself," Shaboor said, "that was a decoy, meant to throw the D'itarka off the trail of the real canister." He smiled a toothy grin at her. "And most of all, I wanted to thank you on behalf of our people for your help."

Sarah reached out her hand to him. "It was good to see you again. I wish it had been under better circumstances, but the way I see it, we helped each other my friend."

"Agreed." He took her hand and squeezed it awkwardly, then left without another word.

Sarah just stared for a minute or so at where Shaboor had stood, then shook her head and dragged her weary body up to bed. She didn't even bother putting her nightgown on; she just laid herself down and almost immediately, she fell asleep.

* * *

>With the Brig more than occupied with both overseeing security at the G7 summit and making sure the human "hosts" were taken into custody for observation now that they no longer seemed to be under alien control, it fell to Harry to deliver his message. At least this time it was a happy one.<p>He knew both Sarah and John had slept through the night after their ordeal; he'd hardly been able to sleep himself due to John's snoring. But now it was mid-morning, and he was on his way back to the house.<p>

Having decided to ignore the mess in the living room, Sarah was in the back of the house working with John to clear out a shed that had been standing in the back garden since she was a child. "Great," she said as she saw Harry. "Another pair of hands. Come along Harry, get busy and when we're done I'll make fish and chips for lunch."

Harry surveyed the goings-on. "I say, what's happening here? I thought you'd be much more concerned with the disaster in the living room. Did the two of you decide to have a celebratory ransack when you got home?"

"Oh no, it was much simpler than that," Sarah smiled. "The house was given a complete going through by messy aliens looking for something they left with me. Not to worry, I'll get that all straightened and sorted out later. What's going on here is that our dear friend John would like to make a living for himself, so I suggested that since he's so good at repairing things, he should open a fix-it shop."

"Yes," John said, "Sarah says that people will actually pay money for me to fix things for them. Mad, really."

Sarah waved at the mess they had just pulled out of the shed. "So I offered him this old storage building. It should look great once we clean it up and slap a few coats of paint on it. What do you think Harry?"

Harry laughed. "Well, seems you're one lucky man, John. Part of the reason I came home for lunch is because the Brigadier wants to offer you a job."

John scrambled out of the pile he was slowly moving, his arms still sore from yesterday's activities. "A job? Doing what?"

"Anything you like, I suspect, but at the moment he's offering you the job of Xenotechnology Specialist. Seems you really impressed him figuring out how to stop that scanner, or whatever it was."

Sarah eyed Harry, then John. She was about to say something when John spoke up.

"Oooh, I don't know about that," he said. "I mean, being there all the time at a place that works with aliens..." He shivered. "Honestly, if I never see another alien in my life it'll be too soon."

"I don't blame you John," Sarah said. "One of the things I like best about you is that unlike some people, you'll leave well enough alone," she added firmly.

Harry caught her meaning, but he still had a job to do. "I've been instructed to tell you that it doesn't have to be a full-time position. You can work part-time, or even just be on-call if UNIT comes across something they can't identify, or that they need help with."

John looked over at Sarah.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't be a problem if you just looked at something occasionally for them." She turned to Harry, pointing her finger at him. "Mind you, he's not to be placed in any danger what-so-ever and they're going to have to put him on retainer for a generous sum."

John looked at Sarah questioningly. "A what?"

"It means," Harry said, "that Sarah wants UNIT to offer you a generous paycheck, and only call you when they need you."

"But -"

"And I'm sure that's completely reasonable," Harry smiled. "If, that is, you're interested."

* * *

><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Well, gentle readers, it seems that the next installment, due on Saturday, is in fact the last chapter of this story in the arc. The next, "Be Careful What You Wish For", is already written, but we appreciate you, and we know that writing reviews does take effort, and even just reading takes time. So we'd like to get your feedback on it: would you rather we just continued on, posting chapter 1 next Wednesday, or do you want a break for a week or two? Please let us know, either by reviewing or by contacting us through the site. Thanks so much!


	34. Chapter 34

John looked at Harry for a moment, considering the offer. "No danger, right?"

"I'm sure the Brig will agree to that."

He thought about that, and looked over at Sarah again.

She nodded in approval. "Just think, this morning you woke up without a job, and here you are this afternoon, with two. Who knows what will turn up by dinner, John," she laughed.

John smiled, but he could think of something he wanted to turn up. "No word on my past, then, eh, Harry?"

"I'm afraid not, old boy. Between Sarah's connections and the Brig's I'm afraid we've canvassed just about every possibility."

John tried to keep the smile on his face. "Well, good thing I've got some work, then, isn't it. Don't want to have to go back to Saint George's."

"That will never happen again as long as I'm breathing, John. You're not to ever think of that place again. Is that understood?" Sarah wagged her finger at him now.

John nodded.

"Oh, and speaking of that," Harry said, "on your suggestion the Brig's checked the place out and there was no connection between them and Doctor Linus. The matron may have been one cold fish, but she is an honest, human cold fish. As for Doctor Linus, I'm afraid he was killed in the battle."

"I'm really sorry to hear that Harry. He really was just a victim in all this even if he wasn't very likable before he got infected and changed his practice."

"Perhaps it's just as well. If he was a decent sort, not sure how he'd have lived with himself. Poor Jennings is driving himself mad with guilt. Oh, and the Brig says if you want still to cover the conference, he's gotten you a press invitation to the wrap-up dinner this evening."

"Tell him I will be there and that I'm very grateful for his offer. Now pitch in or no lunch, you two."

After checking to make sure John's hand hadn't gotten infected - it was too late for stitches - Harry pitched in and helped out, and in no time they had the shed cleaned out, with various piles for trash, charity, and reorganization. They'd just finished lunch when Harry abruptly changed the subject.

"And I'm moving out," he said.

John looked at him, stunned. "But … but we were all getting along so well. Is it my snoring?"

"No, John, it's not your snoring. It's just … well, you've certainly proven yourself to be trustworthy, and with no leads into your past, it's clear that this isn't a short-term arrangement."

John took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"High praise indeed John," laughed Sarah. "This means the Brig trusts you, and I can assure you, that doesn't come easily. In fact, I'd consider it an honor if I were you."

John nodded. "It also means he's giving up trying to find out who I am, doesn't it."

Harry took a deep breath. "It means he thinks that if someone were going to come forward to claim you, they'd have done it already," he said.

"Well then," John said, trying to be be cheerful, "I suppose that's officially it, then." He stood up and shook Harry's hand. "Harry, good spending time with you, and I suppose I'll be seeing you around."

Harry stood and shook his hand. "Absolutely."

John went back out into the garden.

Sarah looked over at Harry. "That wasn't very tactful, you know."

"He's got to know it, Sarah. It's not as if it hasn't occurred to him. I'm just saying what we're all thinking."

Sarah shook her head. "You could have told him a bit more gently." She headed back to the garden after Harry left. She saw John there just standing and staring at some birds splashing in the fountain he'd fixed just before everything had gone pear-shaped. She walked over and put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry Harry was so thoughtless, John. He really didn't mean to be."

"I know he didn't mean it," he said. He sat down on the glider, where he'd found her what seemed like a thousand nights before. "I suppose he's right, though. Whatever I was, that's gone now. I'm probably never going to remember."

Sarah slipped her arm into his and smiled at him. "We're quite the pair, John," she mused. "You're trying with all your might to remember, and I'm doing everything in my power to forget. Neither one of us has been very successful so far have we, my friend?"

"No, I suppose we haven't." He put his hand on her elbow and looked at the bandages that hid a collection of avulsions, tears and gashes he'd made in his hand smashing the alien machinery. "I suppose all we have left is to do is go forward and try to make the best of the future."

Sarah paused and looked up at the sky for a moment. Then she turned back to John. "The past is just that John, it's past. I'll make you a deal," she said. "Let's try to put everything sad in our lives behind us and do our very best to enjoy the future."

John nodded and smiled at her. "Agreed. The future is all any body's got. I guess we're just lucky enough to realize it."

"Of course we're lucky. Look at us, you have two jobs and I have a big interview to do and a new book deal." She mussed his hair and then stood up. "Let's get busy John, we've got lots of work ahead of us."

* * *

><p><strong>Epilogue<strong>

Horace Dewhurst tried not to grumble too audibly as he sat in Donald Mckenzie's office and waited for what could only be an unpleasant confrontation with his new "liaison" at Downing Street. It was only recently that Torchwood had started dealing with the Prime Minister's office rather than going directly through the crown, and he didn't like it. Not one bit.

Especially today.

Donald McKenzie walked into the room as if he were royalty and expected to be treated accordingly. "I suppose you know why you're here, Dewhurst," he said, his voice dripping disdain.

"Of course," Dewhurst said. "With Mister Callaghan at the summit you've decided to pretend you're a big boy." He knew he shouldn't antagonize McKenzie, but the man was just so damned ignorant of what he was dealing with, Dewhurst just couldn't stop himself.

"You're in enough of a pickle as it is, Dewhurst, don't add to it by being arrogant." He opened and expensive leather briefcase and pulled out a rather heavy looking file, slamming it on the desk. "This is a report about the recent alien activity that you and your team had right under your so-called expert noses, but failed to be aware of the fact that they were even on the planet." He spread out some photos. "These were taken in the Docklands, practically outside your door," he said, jabbing his finger at a photo of a lion-like alien. "Now then, give me one good reason we shouldn't close you down at once and hand over your files to UNIT so that they can take over where you dropped the ball?"

"I can give you several, but the easiest is that if you do, you'll be handing over not just the advantage, but also any alien technology we would have found to the United Nations." He held up a hand to silence McKenzie's protest. "Look, I am perfectly willing to admit that this was not Torchwood's finest hour. We were aware of the activity but unfortunately we weren't able to track it down, and frankly, part of that was due to UNIT interference. But at Torchwood we learn from our setbacks, and I can assure you that this absolutely will not happen again."

"May I remind you that UNIT stayed on top of the entire situation and saved not only the world leaders attending the summit, but most likely, the whole planet. Do you have any idea what could have happened if anything went the slightest bit awry yesterday or today? Good grief man, those aliens were using mind control!"

'I wish I had mind control right now,' Dewhurst thought to himself. "Yes, we're aware that they were using mind control, but frankly, even if something had gone wrong, I'm confident that we could have handled any situation that came up."

"Well, you'll never know now will you, because the crisis has come and gone without you and your team making a single move. Right now the PM is having dinner with the world leaders and the head of UNIT is there along with that reporter Miss Smith who helped stop the takeover along with her friend. Word is that UNIT is planning on offering the young man a position."

Dewhurst was dying to ask, 'What young man?' but didn't dare. "_Sarah Jane_ Smith, you mean," he said, hoping that the topic would come up.

"Precisely," he said as he pulled a photo of Sarah Jane Smith and her friend out of the stack of pictures before him. "This woman is affiliated with UNIT, has been for some time, and if you don't have a dossier on her, then you might as well resign your position now."

"We know exactly who she is," Dewhurst said, resisting the urge to shove the photo somewhere very unpleasant. "She happens to be the last known companion of the Doctor, and definitely a person of interest." What he wasn't saying was that he wanted that photo. He wanted it badly. Attempting to appear calm, he reached for it. "Do you mind?" His heart was pounding as he stared at it. "Yes, we definitely have a dossier on Miss Smith. I trust you won't mind if we just add this to it, then." He forced a smile.

"This whole file is yours Dewhurst," he said shoving at him. I expect you to go over it very carefully and learn from your mistakes. Bear in mind that this is the last chance that you'll be receiving. You're quite fortunate that the PM is willing to forgive you for now and just let you go with a warning. If I had his position, you'd have been given the sack at once."

"Well, then, we'll just consider ourselves fortunate," he said, not bothering to clarify his definition of "we". He took up the file. "In that case, I'll be going. I've lots of reading to do. Good day, Mr. McKenzie." He forced himself to walk carefully to his car, then drove as fast as he could back to Torchwood's London facility.

Once inside he ignored everyone vying for his attention, storming into his office and slamming open the side drawer. He grabbed up a folder, then pulled out the photo McKenzie had been flaunting and set it next to it on the desk, his hands shaking.

It wasn't Smith that he was looking at. They'd known about her for years; she was harmless. But her friend …

He looked at the dark hair, the nose, the facial structure.

Then he opened the folder on his desk.

The sketch inside was just a copy, of course; the original was stored in conditions optimal for preserving it. Originally drawn in 1879, it showed a tall man with dark hair in a long coat, and a blond-haired girl.

The sketch had been drawn by an expert upon Queen Victoria's return to London from a harrowing experience in Scotland, but it was still just a sketch. As a result, he couldn't be absolutely certain that they were the same man.

But he was damned sure going to find out.

* * *

><p>Far off the road, behind a stand of trees, in a park in South Croyden, a worn blue police box stood unnoticed, dark and waiting.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong>

Well, that's the end of this story in the arc. Thank you all so much for sticking with us! We know it's been a long trip, and it's not over yet. The next story is called "Be Careful What You Wish For," and due to overwhelming (and, in fact, unanimous) response, we will post chapter 1 this coming Wednesday.

Thanks again!

**Update:**

The sequel is now up; you can read it here: /s/7247285/1/Be_Careful_What_You_Wish_For


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